Ten Cent Hero
JIMMY FACES DEATH WHEN GUNFIGHTERS ARRIVE IN SWEETWATER TO CHALLENGE THE NEWEST KING OF THE HILL...
The boys are at the saloon watching Sam play poker with some men from town. Jimmy tries to teach Cody about the fine art of playing cards but the blond rider is absorbed with the book he is reading, a dime novel written by a man named JD Marcus. When Cody refuses to join him, Jimmy grabs the book and throws it into a pail of water. He them promises his friend that he will buy him another book as soon as he finishes teaching him poker.
The
author of the book -- who happens to be in the saloon -- sees Jimmy's actions
and takes offense. He approaches the two riders, introduces himself and
gives Cody another copy of the book Jimmy threw away. Then Marcus turns
to Jimmy and accuses him of being a coward. Jimmy ignores the novelist,
and incensed, Marcus tries to hit Jimmy with his cane. With his lightning
reflexes, Jimmy manages to shoot Marcus's cane, impressing the novelist
AND angering him more.
When Marcus gets home, he writes a new story about "Wild Bill" Hickok, the most feared gunfighter in the West. He says Hickok has killed "20 men in 18 years" including a very much alive gunslinger named Gabe Calder. When Cody goes to town, Tompkins shows him a copy of the book. He takes it back to the station and shares it with the other riders. At first, the young men think the whole situation is funny, until Teaspoon points out that Marcus is actually exacting his revenge -- by making Jimmy the target of gunslingers who have reputations to make.
Jimmy immediately experiences the effects of Marcus's book. During a run, he is stopped by a young fellow who calls him out for no reason at all, except that he is "Wild Bill" Hickok. Instead of shooting him, Jimmy merely punches the kid. In town, Sam gets into a fight with a couple of gunslingers who are friends with Gabe Calder when he defends Jimmy. Sam advises Jimmy against living up to his new reputation. But the former gunfighter adds that if Jimmy decides to live by the gun, he must shoot to kill.
Calder
himself hears of the story of the young Hickok and goes after him. Marcus,
who was also threatened by Calder, goes to see Sam to warn him about the
older gunfighter. Sam, in turn, goes to the station to warn Jimmy but finds
Kid and Emma instead. Jimmy is out on a run while the other riders are
at a horse auction.
Calder arrives at the Sweetwater station and finds the Kid. The young rider, however, tries to buy his friend some time and denies knowing him. Calder doesn't believe him and strikes him down. When Jimmy returns, he finds an injured Kid and Emma. Despite the housekeeper's pleas, Jimmy goes after Calder.
He arrives in town just in time to save a wounded Sam from Calder. He and Calder face off, and again exhibits his lightning reflexes when he beats the older gunfighter to the draw. However, Jimmy doesn't kill Calder, he merely shoots his hand. When Calder attempts to draw his gun once more, Jimmy shoots the other hand. Teaspoon and the other riders arrive in time to see the wounded Calder taken by his cronies. But someone still goes after Jimmy -- the kid who first showed him the book Marcus wrote. Armed with two guns, the kid calls Jimmy out. The rider responds instinctively and kills the young boy.
Cody, Buck, Ike and Teaspoon go after Marcus who actually stayed in Sweetwater to record the whole story. They threaten to hunt him down if he ever writes about Jimmy Hickok again. But Marcus says, "But I hope you realize that what happened here today can't be suppressed. True, false. It doesn't matter. It's the stuff of legend. The sort of legend a young, growing country needs. It doesn't matter what I write, it's the kind of story that takes a life of its own..."
TRIVIA: When they show Sam and some other town guys playing poker, they clearly show us Sam's hand at one point. He is holding two pair, Aces and Eights. That is known as the "Dead Man's Hand" because it was supposedly the one the real James Butler Hickok was holding when he was shot in the back and killed.
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