Helped by a horse doctor: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
Helped by a horse doctor: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
Helped by a horse doctor is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Tuttle, W. C. (Wilbur C.) (1883–1969).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
Helped by a horse doctor by W. C. Tuttle is a humorous Western short story written in the early 20th century. The tale lampoons frontier boosterism through a comic fraternal-lodge and life‑insurance scheme that snares a hot‑tempered cow‑town and turns petty feuds into farce. Narrator Ike Harper watches his pardner Magpie Simpkins launch the “Loyal Legion of Lizards,” a bogus benevolent order that sells $5‑a‑month policies promising $500 at death. During a day when Piperock’s new city council erupts into a rolling gunfight, Ike hustles applications from feuding townsmen—mayor Wick Smith, Mighty Jones, Judge Steele, Buck Masterson, Pete Gonyer, and the pious “Old Testament” Tilton—each eager to profit if a rival dies. That night, at the Mint Hall, Doc Milliken examines the candidates; only peaceable Dirty Shirt Jones passes. The initiation devolves into pranks—cayenne‑dusted boots, a blindfolded bullsnake, and a bungled toss from a window—while a battle‑minded goat named John L. scatters the crowd and finally eats the lodge charter. Doc returns the money, noting Dirty passed because he wasn’t mad at anyone, and the grand scheme collapses in slapstick ruin.
Book and edition facts
- Title: Helped by a horse doctor
- Author credits: Tuttle, W. C. (Wilbur C.) (1883–1969)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Harper, Ike (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
- Men -- Societies and clubs -- Fiction
- Piperock (Montana : Imaginary place) -- Fiction
- Short stories
- Simpkins, Magpie (Fictitious character) -- Fiction
- Western stories
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Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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