Once upon a time there was at a ranch in the Wild West a very clumsy cowboy. His name was Mike Mills.
Everybody laughed at him but he took no notice of it. Not only the people fooled him but the animals too. the herd of his boss wasn’t rounded up by him but he got rounded up by the animals. this to big hilarity of others. Though Mike wouldn’t let get it to him. He knew that his employer Will Baxton had a lot of faith in him and his daughter Virginia had fallen an eye on him. By her love for Mike she didn’t even see foreman Troy Scott, who was madly in love with her, standing.
On a very hot afternoon Virginia called out to Mike, “Can you come in for a second? I have something for you.”
Mike came to the ranch house. Troy was flirting with the daughter of the rancher and didn’t see the cowboy coming. Virginia looked very much in love at Mike but Troy thought that she meant it for him. Mike walked over the foreman so that this one fell into the water trough for the horses.
Virginia started to laugh hard and Mike said, “Troy, during the daytime there is no time to take a bath.”
Troy came out of the water trough and groaned, “Shut up muff!”
He went to the bunkhouse to dry himself. Virginia took Mike by the hand and they went inside.
“Sit down. I will be right back”, she said.
Mike nodded and wanted to sit but the chair slipped away. That way Mike ended up on the floor. For not being made a fool twice the cowboy went to sit on the settee. A second later Virginia came in again but now with two glasses with ice-cold lemonade.
“You have deserved this”, the daughter of the rancher said.
“Thank you miss Baxton”, Mike said clearly shy.
“Just call me Virginia”, she said friendly.
The cowboy took a sip of lemonade. They looked into each other’s eyes and kept silent.
The silence got broken because Virginia asked, “Are you coming to dinner tonight here?”
Mike nodded and got up. Hereby he pushed down the two glasses of lemonade.
“I am sorry”, said Mike.
But Virginia said, “It doesn’t matter. I clean it up. We eat at 19.00 hour.”
The cowboy left the ranch house and went back to work.
Troy watched him and thought of a plan to get the super snuff out of the way. He didn’t known that his plan was a boomerang which would return to Troy himself.
The foreman mounted on his sorrel and left the yard. He went to his old friend Lamar Dean. Lamar was a notorious cowboy who did everything for money. He was just as unreliable as Santa with Easter. That‘s why he was such good friends with Troy who was of the right stuff as Lamar.
Lamar saw Troy coming and got up to meet him. He knew directly that his help was needed again. Troy dismounted from his horse and did tight the animal.
“Troy, where can I be of service with?”, Lamar asked at once.
“You must eliminate someone for me and at least as soon as possible. The lucky one is Mike Mills”, said Troy.
Lamar started to smile and asked him then, “Mike Mills? The most clumsy cowboy walks around on the globe. Why?”
“He and Virginia are smitten with each other. He must be dead so that I can take his place”, the foreman said.
“We are going to kidnap that girl and as soon as Mike comes to free her with his famous hobbling and clumsiness we blow him off the earth. Then you bring her home and she is you ever thankful and yours”, said Lamar.
“How do you mean? We? This is your work and not mine”, protested Troy.
He got angry and drew his revolver. The face of Lamar became totally clouded. Troy shot him down. The foreman just left the body of Lamar lying down. Hereafter he went back to the Double-K-Ranch. It seemed that nobody had missed him.
Around the seventh hour Mike walked to the ranch house. He had his first diner date with Virginia and her father who was also his employer. The cowboy resolved himself to leave a as good as possible impression behind.
He knocked polite at the door.
Will answered the door and said, “Do come in Mike.”
Mike tripped over the threshold and rolled that way into the living room. Quickly he got up and apologized to his boss.
“It doesn’t matter”, said hij.
Then Virginia came into the living room and she said, “We can eat.”
The two men walked to the dining room. The table was set for three persons. Will went to sit at the head of the table with Virginia at his left and Mike at his right side. Strange enough nothing went wrong, to big relief of Mike.
Quite late he went back to the bunkhouse being waved bye by Virginia. Suddenly Troy hit her half unconcious.He took her down to the shelter of Lamar, because he was away on a journey to the other world. But when he would come back was not known.
“You stay here until I let you go. Only I decide when that is”, Troy said laughing.
“In your dreams”, reacted Virginia.
She could look after herself quite well. Troy didn’t know this though. He wanted to tie her up but Virginia knocked him down. Troy fell down and lost that way his life. Virginia got the horse of Troy and rode back to the ranch.
Her absence was already noticed by Will and Mike. They were about to form a posse when Virginia came riding towards.
“Darling, where have you been? Where is Troy?”, asked Will.
He grabbed her from the horse and took her into his arms. Back on breath again Virginia told everything that had happened.
The rancher looked at Mike and asked, “Would you like to be the new foreman?”
“Me? I would like to but I am too clumsy”, answered Mike.
“That is alright. As foreman you only have to be in charge of the other hands”, his boss answered.
Mike looked with a very smitten look at Virginia and she at him.
“I do it if I may marry your daughter”, said Mike said full of self-confidence.
Will looked at the couple in love and said, “How can I refuse something like that? You have my permission.”
The wedding soon took place at the place. By his new job and the love of Virginia Mike wasn’t called the most clumsy cowboy anymore. The more because Will Baxton was the most richest and powerful rancher of the area.