The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob
The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob is the seventh in the Hank the Cowdog series of children's novels by John R. Erickson. It is preceded by Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and followed by The Case of the One-eyed Killer Stud Horse.
Like almost all the Hank the Cowdog books, this one begins with Hank saying, "It's me again, Hank the Cowdog."
The characters are: Hank the Cowdog, Drover, Pete the Barncat, High Loper, and Sally May.
Plot
The story begins with a typically insane conversation between Hank and his assistant Drover, which is interrupted by Sally May the ranch wife calling them and Pete the barncat for the dinner scraps. Among the scraps are two corncobs, some steak fat and a t-bone. Hank and Drover receive the corncobs, while Pete gets the more delectable scraps. Pete, most probably in an attempt to confuse the two dogs and have some fun, attempts to "steal" their corncobs. When caught, he suggests that they trade the corncobs and the meat. Hank reasons that if Pete wants the corncobs so bad, they must be priceless, and he and Drover promptly take the corncobs back to their gunnysacks beds, leaving Pete with all the meat. Their suddenly discovered "wealth", however, soon makes the two dogs suspicious of each other. Hank eventually winds up wandering around the ranch all night, searching for somewhere to bury his corncob- until he falls aleep. The next morning, Hank is called to help Loper and Slim, the cowboys, get a cow and her calf into a trailer so that they can be moved to another pasture. The job is harder than it sounds and winds up with Hank being used for bait. With both cattle in the trailer, Hank returns to the ranch, gets his Priceless Corncob out of the trash can where Slim threw it, and heads off into the pasture, deciding to find a resort community where he can "sit in the sun and enjoy my wealth", spurning the cow work he had previously been doing. Drover, who has lost his corncob, comes along as Hank's valet. They have not gone far, however, when they run straight into a tribe of Coyotes, who are awakened by Hank and who plan to eat them. Before they can, however, Hank lets it slip that the corncob he is carrying is "priceless", which starts a vicious war as the coyotes fight for its possession. Hank grabs the corncob and escapes, but Drover doesn't see him and continues to sit and watch the riot. Hank runs until he reaches a waterhole, where he meets the lovely Missy Coyote. While talking with her, he realizes that there are more important things in the world than wealth. Wallace and Junior, the buzzards, arrive just then, and Hank remembers the fate he has left Drover to: death at the hands of coyotes. Hank and Missy say goodbye, promising to meet again, and together with Junior the buzzard Hank hatches a plan to save his friend. The two return to the village, Junior drops the corncob into the middle of the tribe, and another riot begins. Hank saves Drover from the coyotes, and the two return to the ranch, as Hank has decided the corncob was a curse that brought misery and suffering to whoever found it. They promise never to become greedy for wealth again. Back at the ranch, it is supper time again, and Sally May has just brought out the scraps. There is another "priceless" corncob, and the two immediately begin arguing over who it belongs to...