Dumb or Dumber

Ezra and Chris entered the saloon to find Buck, Nathan, Josiah, JD, and Vin sitting around a table laughing uproariously.

“Hey, what’s all this about?” Chris asked as he and Ezra took their seats.

“Ya’ know that guy that was wanted fer holdin’ up the stage out by Stockton?” Buck said, between chuckles. When Chris and Ezra nodded, he continued, “Well, the sheriff in Stockton recalled them flyers on him today. Seems the witness’s description wasn’t quite accurate. Instead of ridin’ a buckskin, he rides a dun horse. He walked right into the sheriff’s office to clear up the mistake.”

Chris and Ezra laughed right along with them this time.

“I ain’t heard of anything that dumb before,” Chris said when the laughing wound down.

“Ah have,” Ezra snickered.

“What you talking about, brother?” Josiah asked.

Grinning, Ezra began his tale. “Ah was passing through a small municipality in northern Texas about a year before the beginning our association here. When Ah rode into town, Ah noticed that the bank was having construction done. Upon inquiring, Ah was informed that the façade front of the building was to be replaced. Seemed that the bank had been robbed, and it had come loose when the safe was blown. The bank was closed until repairs could be made. Ah planned on leaving the town the next day on the stage, so Ah took and room at the boarding house. That night there was an explosion, but not hearing gun fire, I ignored it and went back to sleep. The next morning, Ah was informed that a group of miscreants had taken the opportunity left by the construction to try their luck at robbing the bank.

“Howevah, their demolitions efforts cause the whole façade to collapse, blocking the door and windows. They had trapped themselves with no means of exiting the building. All the sheriff had to do was wait until they threw their weapons out, then go in and get them.”

All seven men were laughing this time.

“Ezra, I’m not sure who’s dumber, the guy in Stockton or your bank robbers.” Buck grunted as he controlled his laughter.

“Oh, Ah think the bank robbers have your stage robber beaten. You see, when the sheriff first arrived at the bank, he asked around to see what people might have seen. One young man he asked proceed to inform him of how many men were in the bank and how many guns they had. When he asked how the lad knew, the young man replied that he had seen them go into the bank. The sheriff immediately inquired why he hadn’t some to get him then. The lad replied that he had been told to stand right here and not move. He was their lookout. He figured he'd help the sheriff get them out, since he couldn’t rob banks without them, and he had nothing better to do with his time”

Six pairs of eyes were glued to Standish’s face, stunned for a moment before bursting with laughter again. Inez watched the seven men with fond exasperation. She wasn’t sure what had brought such hilarity to their table, but she figured that anything that could get the dour Chris Larabee to laugh couldn’t be a bad thing.

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