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Outlaws The Masterpiece
Henry Martin: Walter Slezak Poor Henry Martin has turned from barn painting to portraits, but when he paints a likeness of Stillwater banker Mr. Porter, the banker is not amused. He tosses Henry out on his ear and refuses to pay the $50 fee. This sets Henry to thinking of revenge. Mr. Porter is a proud man; proud of his bank, proud of his vault, proud of his position in the community. He is so vain that he even offers $50 to anyone who finds the light out in the bank foyer at night. Meanwhile, Chalk Breeson is trying to make friends with the jail dog, Bill Doolin. He brings a huge bone from the butcher, but Bill Doolin just snarls at him and stalks off without the bone. When Will Foreman enters and sees the attempted bribed, he goes into fits of laughter. This prompts Chalk to ask about the old superstition of a dog being a good judge of people's character. As Chalk resignedly leaves to do his errands, Bill Doolin takes the bone and contentedly chews on it, leaving Will shaking his head in amusement. One of the town characters is Jerry Rome. He is a magician from Boston, and his main claim to fame is that he can break any lock in town. This gives Henry Martin an idea. He gets with Rome to crack the vault. The only problems that Jerry can foresee are threefold: 1) it will be tough, 2) the whole town can see the vault, and 3) it is kinda crooked. Together, they eagerly plan their attack. The first thing Jerry Rome does is commission the blacksmith across the street from the bank to make 36 metal wedges, each one slightly larger than before. This request causes Slim, who has been eavesdropping, to comment, "As I get older, there's one thing I learn about life. It takes all kinds." Next, Jerry gets with Slim and convinces the Texan that "Texas Signing Day" will occur at four minutes past ten on the night of the planned robbery. Jerry just happens to mention that roman candles were used in Texas on June 16, 1836, and the man stood on the top of the building and set them off. Sure enough, slim gets roman candles and sets them off at the appointed time, drawing everyone to his end of town with yells of "Remember the Alamo!" The noise is so deafening that Will considers tossing Slim in jail for the rest of the night. Back at the bank, Henry Martin and Jerry Rome have hoisted a canvas of the bank vault in the appropriate place and anyone who chances by thinks it is the actual vault. While the blacksmith labors through the night to create some tool Rome has commissioned to be delivered the next morning, the two safe crackers carefully pry the door from the vault using the 36 metal wedges and a hammer. When they have the door off, the take the loot and hide it in the bank. The next day, Mr. Porter finds his bank vault empty, and he is just about the laughing stock of town because he has bragged that it could not be robbed. He manages to convince everyone that Jerry Rome must have done it, as he was the only man with the expertise. At the trial, Henry Martin acts for the defense, and he gets everyone to head to the bank to see the scene. At the bank, the vault appears perfectly normal, and it is then revealed that the canvas has once again been hung in front of the old vault, as it was done on the night of the robbery. Mr. Porter then grudgingly admits that Henry Martin is an extraordinary painter, and with his reputation now untarnished, Mr. Martin shows where the money is hidden. Of course, Henry Martin and Jerry Rome are guilty of breaking and entering, but Mr. Porter is no impressed with the skill of the burglary that he puts them to work helping design a better vault.
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