One day there was in the local newspaper a notable advert:

The outlaws Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry saw the advert.

“Or this is a joke or he really means it”, said Heyes.

“This is something for you. You get every safe open”, reacted Curry.

“That is so. And one thousand dollars is very good hands with us”, his friend replied.

They decided to go to Rockville.

The advert also got read to the brothers Dalton, regular inhabitants of the state prison in Nevada.

“Boys, we get rich”, Joe, the smallest of the Daltons, called.

“How then Joe? We are in prison”, Averell, the tallest Dalton brother, said.

“Averell is right Joe”, said William, also a Dalton brother.

“Moper, we escape and go to Rockville to crack that safe. Then the money is ours”, said Joe.

“But Joe, if we escape Lucky Luke comes after us again”, said Averell.

It was enough to drive Joe wild and he wanted to strangle Averell but his brothers William and Jack stopped him.

“We do it after supper”, said Joe after he had calmed down.

“Fine because we eat brown bean soup”, Averell said licking his lips.

“You eat a whole pan empty and we are stuck with the consequences”, Jack remarked.

Suddenly Joe saw the light.

“I know how we escape. Averell eats all soup and drugs the guards with those beans. That way we can get away easily”, he said.

The brothers agreed with this.

Averell let himself taste the brown bean soup very well and soon the escape got set in working. Everywhere the Daltons came the guards quickly fled away. The Daltons quickly came out of the prison.

The aroma of Averell spreaded like a wild fire. Lucky Luke, a poor lonesome cowboy far away from home, rode on his horse Jolly Jumper. Suddenly they smelled the unpleased smell of Averell.

“Jolly, is that you who stinks so?”, asked Lucky Luke.

“Of course not, I am a neat horse”, Jolly Jumper whined insulted.

“Me neither. I have taken a bath last month”, replied Lucky Luke.

Quickly they rode ahead whereby the air disappeared for a while.

In Rockville bank manager Jake Wilson had made everything ready for the sensation of the year.

“Now only wait for the candidates. Nobody gets my safe open”, Jake said satisfied.

“But imagine that there someone comes who tries and gets the safe open. If needed with dynamite”, Mark Stevens, the co-organizer of the competition, said.

“My new safe is uncrackable!”, snapped Jake.

“You have made it so it is your competition”, said Mark.

“Indeed is my competition and I will keep the reward for myself!”, said Jake.

“Then you deal with it yourself”, said Mark.

He went away. Jake though, ‘Nobody will get my safe open and the money is for me and me alone!’

In the meanwhile the Daltons met their worst enemy: Lucky Luke.

“Once again escaped?”, asked Lucky Luke.

“No, they let us go due to the new smell of Averell”, replied Joe.

“Fortunately. I already thought that it was Luke”, Jolly Jumper remarked.

“Back to the prison”, said Lucky Luke.

“Wait a minute cowboy. We are on our way to Rockville to crack a safe. You can win one thousand dollars and that money is ours”, Joe explained.

“Alright. You may try it but then straight back to home”, said Lucky Luke.

The Daltons agreed with that. Together they went to Rockville.

Around that same time Heyes and Curry arrived in Rockville.

“We take a hotel room and go then drink something in the saloon”, Heyes suggested.

“Good idea”, reacted Curry.

“Kid, just in case you have forgotten it: I always have good ideas”, Heyes remarked dry.

Curry looked at him critical for a second but said nothing. They rode to the hotel and stopped their horses. The outlaws dismounted and hitched their horses. Here after they went inside.

“Do you have a room for 2 persons?”, asked Heyes.

“Yes. Sign here”, the receptionist.

The outlaws signed and got the key of their room.

In the same hotel stayed also Lucky Luke and the Daltons. Even though they had separate rooms but that didn’t stop the Daltons from making attempts to get rid of Lucky Luke.

“We escape through the window and tear the town apart”, said Joe.

“Joe, you forget that Lucky Luke is watching us”, was the remark of Averell.

Joe got a little very angry, wanted to strangle his brother but ended up against the ceiling because he jumped ten meters in to the air. Joe saw stars right away.

In the room next to it Lucky Luke heard the smack and he said to himself, “Joe is rebuilding the room again for sure!”

Finally it became September 1. Very early Jake was busy to get his new safe ready to be cracked. The participants had prepared themselves very well. The Daltons had taken so much dynamite along that the whole town could blow up. They were very excited too. Heyes and Curry on the other hand remained calm.

Out of nothing the dull prison dog Rataplan appeared on the stage. Jolly Jumper saw him as first and feared the worst.

“You think you have had everything, the first walking flea shop comes to town”, he said sighing deep.

In the meantime Heyes and Curry had met Lucky Luke and they got on well. The Daltons were there too.

“If you think that you can crack that safe I have bad news for you”, Joe said chuckling.

“And the bad news is?”, asked Curry.

“We crack the safe”, the smallest Dalton brother replied.

“You are going to crack that enormous safe?”, Heyes asked smiling.

“Yes sure”, Joe said already a bit irritated.

“Mr Jones, do you know what they will say when they see Joe Dalton near that safe?”, asked Heyes.

“No Mr Smith, tell”, Curry said amused.

Now Joe looked at Heyes curiously.

“Safe, where are you going with that smurf?”, Heyes replied smiling.

Now Joe exploded totally and there was not even a burning stick of dynamite for necessary.

“Is he always so light flammable?”, Heyes asked Lucky Luke.

“Yes, he is unable to work at a firework factory”, replied Lucky Luke.

“You better can work at a food factory as you can eat the whole day through then”, said Averell.

“Shut up Averell”, reacted Joe.

“They are very friendly to each other. Don’t you think so too Mr Jones?”, asked Heyes.

“Indeed. There is nothing ever above a good family bond”, reacted Curry.

Then Rataplan saw Averell and the dog ran to him.

“Sweet doggie”, the tallest Dalton said.

“Rataplan! What are you doing here?”, Lucky Luke asked the dog.

“Spreading fleas”, replied Jolly Jumper.

He was rolling on the floor about his own answer.

“Mr Smith, Mr Jones, this is Rataplan. He ought to guard the four Daltons when they are in prison”, said Lucky Luke.

“May we make up that those four are more out of prison than inside?”, asked Curry.

“That is so. And I bring them back too again and again”, replied Lucky Luke.

Heyes asked so that Joe certainly would hear it, “And Joe Dalton is your best friend?”

It was like Joe got a smack in the face by hearing the question of Heyes.

“Joe Dalton is no friend of Lucky Luke!”, he yelled then.

“You don’t have to yell so because I stand right next to you”, said Heyes.

The Daltons walked away from the outlaws and Lucky Luke.

“Those two start to work on my nerves”, Joe said at a safe distance.

“Us too”, Jack and William said at the same time.

“When are we going to eat?”, asked Averell.

“Shut up Averell”, he got to hear out of three throats.

“As soon as we may do an attempt to crack that safe we just use our dynamite”, said Joe.

“Here is your dynamite. I have cleaned it very well with water and soap”, replied Averell.

“Cactus head. Now the dynamite has become unusable”, Joe screamed excited.

Again Averell got an attempt to go to bandit heaven but Jack and William knew to stop Joe.

“Joe, ma will kill you when you kill Averell”, said William.

“I still say it to ma because I am her favorite”, reacted Averell.

They were quarreling so and fighting with each other that nobody noticed that Heyes was all long busy with the safe.

Jake had not counted on the participation of Heyes and Curry. Had he done that, then this competition would never had been drawn out. The bank manager saw how Heyes was working and started to get nervous.

“That cowboy knows how he must do that. I must step in quickly”, Jake said to himself.

Though Curry kept an eye on Jake and stood suddenly behind him.

“I wouldn’t try anything because I have a friend with six blue bones in your back”, the outlaw whispered.

Jake swallowed and kept calm.

After a while Heyes had gotten the safe open. The body of Mark Stevens fell out of it. The bank manager knew now that he had to pay but he didn’t feel like doing that.

“The competition was just a joke. Made up by Mark Stevens”, Jake called.

“If that was the case, why does he lie in the safe then?”, asked Lucky Luke.

“He wanted that way”, Jake made up quickly.

He tried to get away but that failed because the Daltons interfered with it as well.

“We want to do an attempt too to crack the safe”, said Joe.

“Joe, save yourself the trouble because it is already cracked. Back to prison and mister the bank manager can come too after he has paid those one thousand dollars to Mr Smith”, said Lucky Luke.

Heyes still got his money and after Jake had confessed it all he joined the company of Lucky Luke.

When everything was quiet again Heyes and Curry too left Rockville.

“Kid, I hope we never run into those Daltons again. It seems to me that they are quarrelling too much with each other”, said Heyes.

“I fully agree with you”, replied Curry.