The Masher’s Mockery: How Luke McGlue Framed the Dodge City Lady-Killer

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This historical yarn recounts the classic frontier hazing of "Herb," a boastful Dodge City resident who claimed to be an irresistible lady-killer but instead fell hook, line, and sinker for a mail-order prank. Orchestrated by local tricksters, the scheme buried the gullible romantic under a mountain of fake, hilariously absurd love letters from imaginary admirers. Unable to resist the promise of true love, Herb happily shelled out two dollars for a photo album to hold his fictitious harem and eagerly agreed to a late-night rendezvous in a dark lumberyard.

The climax unfolds in pure physical comedy when Herb arrives at the lumberyard, pours his heart out, and passionately squeezes a heavily veiled accomplice dressed in spotless white. Upon triumphantly peeling back the veil to claim his kiss, Herb realizes he has been thoroughly duped in front of fifty hidden, laughing spectators, sending him sprinting down the railroad tracks like a terrified frog. The ultimate punchline hits at the sales counter of Robert M. Wright’s general store, where narrator Luke McGlue—after listening to the greenhorn John Wesley Mooar retell the legend—cheerfully reveals that he was the mastermind behind the entire setup.

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