The taking of Cloudy McGee

In Short

This story is a humorous Western caper set in the small, dusty town of Lost Hills. When a timid, embezzling bank cashier and his lawyer find their stolen funds lost in a failed oil investment, they hatch a desperate plan to stage a fake bank robbery. The narrative follows their increasingly chaotic attempts to recruit a legendary bandit, culminating in a farcical standoff involving a bank examiner, a U.S. marshal, and an indignant newspaper editor. It remains a delightful example of 1920s pulp western fiction, defined by its rapid-fire dialogue and wry, character-driven irony.

The Story

The plot begins in the town of Lost Hills, where the local lawyer, Ferdinand P. Putney, and the bank cashier, Amos K. Weed, face an existential crisis. Amos has embezzled forty thousand dollars of bank money to invest in a doomed oil well. With the bank examiner due at any moment and only ten thousand dollars left in the vault, the pair is terrified. Desperate to cover their tracks, they decide to stage a robbery.

By chance, a man known only as Cloudy McGee—a feared bandit with a thousand-dollar bounty on his head—is rumored to be heading toward town to settle a grudge with the local newspaper editor. Putney and Amos track him down and hire him to rob the bank at ten o'clock the next morning, hoping to frame the bandit for the missing fifty thousand dollars. However, the plan immediately goes awry. A second, mysterious man—who happens to have a severe cold and a "pneumonia complex"—arrives in town. This man, an undercover U.S. marshal named Morton, has been tracking the real Cloudy McGee and has already had his horse and hat stolen by a sharp-witted gambler who is actually the bank examiner.

The night before the robbery, Amos attempts to smuggle the remaining ten thousand dollars out of the bank to hide it, but he is mugged by the bank examiner, who recognizes the scheme. Meanwhile, the disgruntled editor, Miles Rooney, is captured and painted in his own printing inks by the man he believes is the bandit.

On the morning of the heist, the tension reaches a breaking point at the bank. The bank examiner, the U.S. marshal, the sheriff, and the conspirators all converge at the scene. Just as the arrest is about to turn violent, the situation is resolved by a telegram: the supposedly failed oil well has struck a gusher, turning the "embezzled" money into a massive, legitimate profit. The U.S. marshal reveals his true identity and subdues the real Cloudy McGee, while the bank examiner exposes the absurdity of the plot. The story ends on a note of comedic relief as the marshal realizes his chronic "pneumonia" is actually just hay fever, and the conspirators are left to face the consequences of their ineptitude.

How It Unfolds

A desperate collaboration Amos reveals he has lost forty thousand dollars of bank funds on a dry oil well and faces ruin. Putney, the town’s resourceful attorney, convinces him that hiring a professional outlaw to rob the bank is their only path to safety.

The hunt for a bandit Amos and Putney track down a man they believe is the dangerous Cloudy McGee. They pay him a thousand-dollar "retainer" and plan a staged robbery for the following morning.

The stranger with a cold A mysterious, sneezing man arrives in town, suffering from a persistent, self-diagnosed respiratory illness. He secretly monitors the conspirators and intercepts Amos when he tries to hide the remaining bank cash.

A collision of errors On the morning of the scheduled robbery, the bank becomes a trap. The sheriff, the deputy, the U.S. marshal, the bank examiner, and the panicked conspirators all converge at the bank doors as the hour of the heist strikes.

The final reveal The confusion is cleared when the oil well hits a gusher, the marshal identifies himself, and the bank examiner reveals that he has been orchestrating the chaos to trap the criminals. The bandit is caught, the bank’s solvency is saved, and the "dying" marshal discovers his illness is merely seasonal allergies.

The People

Ferdinand P. Putney is a tall, lanky, and cynical lawyer who fancies himself a mastermind. He is the strategist of the duo, driven by greed and a desire to outwit the law, but he is ultimately thwarted by his own lack of control over the people he tries to manipulate.

Amos K. Weed is the cashier of the Lost Hills bank, a small, nervous man with a ".22 caliber soul." His desire to be a criminal is constantly defeated by his fear of consequences. He is the emotional heart of the story’s chaos, swinging between terror and naive hope.

The Bank Examiner is a sharp, nimble-fingered individual who thrives on the confusion of others. He keeps his identity hidden to observe the incompetence of the townspeople, ultimately acting as the catalyst for the truth coming to light.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Morton provides the story’s most humorous element. He is obsessed with his own perceived impending death from pneumonia, a hypochondria that contrasts sharply with his professional competence as an officer of the law.

Miles Rooney is the editor of the Clarion. He is pompous and eager to print scathing editorials, a trait that leaves him literal-minded—and covered in ink—as the target of the town’s more violent residents.

In Its Own Voice

“Ferdinand P. Putney was the lawyer of Lost Hills town. The folks of Lost Hills were not given to carrying their troubles to the law; so one lawyer was enough.”

(Describing the town’s legal landscape and Putney’s low-volume practice.)

“But for many years Amos had dreamed of being a great criminal, a master mind; of smashing through things like a Springfield bullet. But his .22 caliber soul had held him back.”

(Detailing the contrast between the cashier’s ego and his actual character.)

“I have been looking for Cloudy McGee, but I didn’t have much of a description, except that he gambles quite a lot and is about my size.”

(The U.S. marshal explains the source of the mistaken identity that fueled the entire plot.)

What It's Really About

The book explores the absurdity of human vanity and the thin line between ambition and incompetence. Putney and Amos view themselves as masterminds, yet they are constantly outplayed by their own assumptions and the unpredictable reality of others. The story questions the nature of reputation; the entire plot hinges on people believing they know who "Cloudy McGee" is, even though they have never seen him. Ultimately, it suggests that greed often makes people blind to the obvious, and that even the most "perfect" criminal plans—or the most dire-seeming medical conditions—often collapse under the weight of a simple, overlooked truth.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy the brisk, witty style of early 20th-century American pulp fiction will find this a charming diversion. It moves at a frantic, cinematic pace that rarely pauses, making it an easy read for an afternoon. The humor is largely derived from the physical and verbal ineptitude of the protagonists, which feels timeless in its depiction of small-town posturing.

Modern readers should be prepared for the period-specific dialect and the light, almost dismissive attitude toward lawlessness, which are hallmarks of the genre. The story relies on a "shaggy dog" style of humor, where the tension is constantly undercut by the characters' ridiculous personal quirks—such as the marshal's sneezing fits. While the plot relies on a cascade of coincidences that might feel unbelievable to a contemporary audience, the heart of the book is its commitment to the farce. If you appreciate a story that treats the "masterminds" of the world as the fools they really are, you will enjoy the way this narrative consistently pulls the rug out from under its own villains. It leaves you with a lingering sense of amusement at how quickly a "serious" criminal conspiracy can turn into a slapstick comedy of errors.