Spook Town

Entrusted to deliver a strongbox to the town of Dry Valley, Texas Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins camp for the night in the ghost town of Mystic. Meanwhile, in Dry Valley, a masked mystery man hires Trigger Booth and two other thugs to steal the strongbox. Later that evening, Trigger and the others attack, but are driven away by the rangers' gunfire. Afterward, Panhandle meets Dry Wash Thompson, an old prospector searching for a lost vein of gold, and they all proceed to Dry Valley together. In town, the rangers deliver the box to Wells Fargo agent Sam Benson, who locks it in the safe. Lucy Warren, Sam's sweetheart, then invites Sam, Jim and Panhandle to dinner, leaving Tex behind to guard the safe. As Tex stands watch, Trigger lassos him and drags him into the creek. Upon returning from dinner, Jim and Panhandle find Tex drenched and the strongbox missing. Sam is the only person who knows the combination to the safe, and consequently, the rangers suspect him of the theft. Reluctant to face the hostile sheriff, Sam jumps on his horse and gallops off into the night. Afterward, Captain Wyatt, Tex's father and the leader of the rangers, excoriates the lawmen for losing the strongbox, explaining that it was filled with money borrowed from businessman Kurt Fabian, and was to be used to build a dam in the valley. In return for the loan, Fabian required the ranchers to sign a contract, guaranteeing half their income if the debt was not repaid. Consequently, the ranchers are in danger of becoming sharecroppers unless the money can be recovered. When Wyatt orders the rangers to turn in their badges for failing their mission, they vow to find the stolen money. Later, at the Dry Valley café, the rangers come face to face with Fabian. When Trigger and his men enter the café, the lawmen note furtive glances exchanged between them and Fabian and become suspicious. Soon after, Sam returns to town and is taken into custody by Wyatt. Discovering that Fabian owns the town of Mystic, the rangers decide to ride back there and search for clues. Meanwhile, Trigger and his men confront Fabian in his office. Accusing Fabian of being the masked men who hired them and also stole the strongbox, Trigger threatens to expose him unless he makes them his partners. Fabian agrees to their terms and arranges to meet them at the Mystic dance hall later that night to reclaim the strongbox. As the rangers search the ghost town, they discover that the safe from the Mystic Wells Fargo office is missing and surmise that it has been sent to Dry Valley. At the dance hall, meanwhile, Trigger and the boys demand that Fabian turn all the money over to them, and to frighten him into submission, they begin to fire their guns at his feet. Drawn by the sound of gunfire, the rangers rush to the saloon and find Fabian dead of a heart attack. Upon returning to Dry Valley the next morning, Jim and Tex question Sam, who has since been released from jail, about the safe. When Sam confirms that the Dry Valley safe came from the Mystic Wells Fargo office, which his deceased father used to oversee, the rangers realize that Fabian knew the combination and must have stolen the money and hidden it in Mystic. Determined to recover the money himself, Sam returns to Mystic to search his father's hiding spot, thinking that Fabian must have known about it, too. Spotting Sam riding into town, Trigger and his gang follow, and after Sam uncovers the box, they tie him up and lug the box into the street. Panhandle and Dry Wash, lounging in town, witness Sam's capture and Panhandle sends Dry Wash for Jim and Tex while he holds off Trigger and his men. After meeting Jim and Tex along the trail, Dry Wash accompanies them back to Mystic, and they arrive in town, guns ablaze. Trigger and his men gallop away, decoying the rangers out of town. Trigger then cunningly doubles back to town, but Tex follows and corners him in the saloon. As the two men tangle, Wyatt and his posse ride into town and Wyatt proudly watches as his son overpowers Trigger and recovers the money. After Panhandle and Jim capture the other thieves, the rangers are reinstated in the service and turn their prisoners over to Wyatt.