Mayor Linseed is taken hostage by Shame. His plan is to lure Batman, Robin and Batgirl
into a trap and finish off the Terrific Trio off for good. He sends a note to Police Commissioner
Gordon's office which reads...
After reading this, Batman quickly dismisses it as clue. He thinks it's just Shame's way of making them sweat it out. Batman allows Barbara Gordon to read the note.
Later, at her apartment, Barbara confides in her pet bird, Charlie. She tells him how she thinks Shame's note is a clue. "Where the sun don't shine": she realizes that phrase may be Shame's way of telling them that Mayor Linseed is being held at The Sun Down Saloon in the abandoned ghost town. She knows Shame has a trap planned, but figures if she can surprise him...she can set the trap.
The secret wall spins and Batgirl is on her way.
She leaves her Batgirl cycle about a half mile outside of the ghost town. She jogs the rest of
the way in, so that the motor of her bike won't give her away. She approaches the one and only street
of this ghost town. As she peaks her head around the corner, she sees an alarming sight: a man
bound by the wrists kneeling in the middle of the dust-covered street. Mayor Linseed? Standing next
to him is Shame himself, with a six shooter in hand. He raises the gun to the man's head.
"SO LONG, MR. MAYOR!" he shouts.
Batgirl realizes her original plan has to be abandoned. She quickly pulls out a Batarang and launches it a Shame's shooting hand. The result is a perfect hit. The gun goes flying out of Shame's hand. He turns to see Batgirl running toward him. Shame runs down the street and around the corner away from the oncoming heroine. Batgirl's only concern now is to get Mayor Linseed to safety.
When she reaches the bound figure, she immediately gets a chill. This isn't the Mayor! It isn't even a real man. It is a mannequin dressed in a three piece suit!
Suddenly, she hears the unmistakeable sound of approaching horses behind her. From around the corner come two men on horseback. Both wear black hats and black clothes. They are approaching fast.
Batgirl runs to the opposite end of the street only to see another horseman coming around that corner. He, too, is dressed in black. The three men converged on Batgirl. No matter where she tries to run, she is quickly cut off by one of the large horses.
She suddenly sees daylight when one of the horses seems to be out of position to trap her. Batgirl runs down the street and is able to put a slight distance between herself and her attackers. Only one of the horsemen pursues her. He swings a lasso over his head as he gains ground on Batgirl.
When close enough, he tosses the rope around the fleeing heroine. When the rope drops down to around her knees, he gives a quick tug, sending Batgirl hard to the ground face-first. The cowboy then jumps from his horse with the rope in hand. He stands about 25 feet from Batgirl, as he starts pulling her closer at a rapid pace.
Batgirl is slightly stunned, but aware of her position. She rolls herself over on her back. Hoping to slow down her advancement toward the cowboy, she claws at the ground . . . but to no avail.
The cowboy hovers over her. Before Batgirl can do anything, the cowboy quickly kneels down besides her and flips her over on to her stomach. He then gathers together her legs and wraps the rope around her ankles three times. Then he pulls the rope up along her back and wraps more of the rope around her left wrist. Finally, he pulls her right arm around her back, crosses her wrists over each other, ties the rope around both wrists three times and ties it off securely. The whole process of tying Batgirl up takes less than ten seconds.
Batgirl lays there completely hog-tied, as the cowboy stands and raises his hands in triumph. Just then, Shame emerges from behind a building. With him are two of his partners in crime: Chief Standing Pat and Fernando Ricardo Enrique Dominquez, called Fred by Shame.
"Don't get too excited, partner," he says to the cowboy. "You caught her and that's good, but that was hardly a record time."
Shame stands over the struggling Batgirl. She can hardly believe how quickly she was bound! "One hero down,'' Shame says, "two to go."
The two other cowboys, still on horseback, approach. "Should we finish her off, Shame?" asks one of the horsemen.
"Nope," he replies "We'll take care of Batchick. You boys rest up for Batgeek and Bird-Brain Boy . . . I'm sure they'll be showing up sooner or later."
About a mile down the road sits a flat-bed wagon. Two horses are hitched up to it. Waiting in
the wagon is Calamity Jan. She looks bored, but quickly comes to life as she hears
horses approaching. It is Shame, Fred and The Chief. Draped across a fourth horse, led by Fred, is the bound Batgirl. The three men dismount when they reached Jan.
"Look!" says a gleeful Shame, "I went bat-hunting!"
Jan smiles at his attempt at humor. "Great, Shame-honey!"
The Chief and Fred pull Batgirl from the horse. No longer hog-tied, but still securely bound at the wrists and ankles. Each man grabs an arm and drags her over to Shame. They stand her straight up to face him. "Finally you came down from your high horse!" laughs the Criminal Cow-poke.
"You wait . . ." Batgirl snarls, "Batman will be here soon and when he gets his hands on you . . ."
"Gag her!" commands Shame. Fred obeys, taking the bandana from around his neck. Batgirl tries unsuccessfully to break free of the grip The Chief now has on her all by himself. Batgirl thrashes her head from side to side, but Fred is still able to cleave-gag her.
"Okay, boys," says Shame in his Western drawl, "you know what to do." With that, The Chief picks up Batgirl and carries her over to the flat-bed wagon. Fred jumps up in the back of the wagon and accepts Batgirl as The Chief passed her to him. Fred places Batgirl in a sitting position as The Chief hops in the wagon with them.
Suddenly, Batgirl sees a ray of hope as both men cut the ropes around her wrists and ankles. Her feeling of freedom is fleeting, however, as the two men maintain control as they force her down flat on her back. With one arm around Calamity Jan's waist, Shame looks on as The Chief and Fred tie Batgirl spread-eagle to the back of the wagon. They finish and jump off.
Shame kisses Jan and then walks up to the bound and gagged heroine. He smiles at Batgirl's useless attempts to free herself. She is tied tight.
"Two miles down this road," the white-hatted villain explains, "used to be a bridge . . .Well, the bridge is now gone and all
that's left is a very deep ravine."
Batgirl stares at him in horror as his words begin to describe her fate. "These two horses you're
hooked up to" he continues, "don't know that!
As a cowboy, I hate to waste good animals, but, as I told the Dynamic Dudes, them rules don't count east of the Mississippi!"
Shame pulls his gun and aimes it about six inches above the horses heads. Just before he pulls the trigger, Shame shouts "SO LONG, BATCHICK!"
The tremendous bang sends the horses full speed down the road toward the ravine with Batgirl helpless in the back of the wagon. She realizes that two miles will go by quickly at this high speed. She pulls hard at the ropes, but continually gets no satisfaction from her struggles. Far from freeing herself, she knows the ravine is getting closer . . .