No sooner do you have a gun pointed at you and you fold like a cheap tent… even with Andy the wonder-dog on your side… Poor doggy now has his muzzle bound by a kerchief…  and you are doing Jeff’s bidding by tying Jared up?  What is it with Trail, Inc.?  Bondage plays a big role in almost all their story lines that involve kidnapping and such…  Remember Rusty in the back of Rod Bassey’s Van?  The only thing missing there was the ball for the gag…

OK Mark, start with the arrowhead collection,  low bulk, high value (maybe?  Who the hell knows what the market for Indian Artifacts does with this stuff…) I still maintain that considering that there is no ready, liquid market for this stuff, Jeff will be on the street with his trench coat, opening it up to passers-by, “Hey! Psst… interest you in an arrowhead?  A Hatchet?”

Ever vigilant, Andy’s hackles are standing at attention as Jeff enters the museum, bent on mischief and plunder!  But Really?? How many times has a gun been pointed at Mark Trail over the years?  Compared to how many times the average person might find him or herself in a similar situation?  Not including law enforcement or soldiers, where you are practically guaranteed being in harm’s way, but really… a nature writer?  It would seem to happen almost on a monthly basis… when you aren’t really looking for trouble, it just finds you?  But then without the Jeff ‘n’ Jared’s of the world and Mark’s propensity to come into contact with them, we wouldn’t have much of a strip now would we??

Still not clear how Mark is going to be “used” in their little caper… and little it is, considering all they are going to be able to get away with is what they can fit into that little picnic basket, the one full of “Real Maple Syrup, the kind that is really great on flapjacks…”  Oops, sorry, it’s a BIG PACKBASKET, but oddly not THE BIG PACKBASKET, as if there are many strewn about, any one of them for the taking???  What has me laughing inside already is the visual of Jeff ‘n’ Jared making their getaway in their canoe, paddling just as fast as their arms can take them…  or are they going to steal Mr. Dunlap’s boat as well?  Let’s wait and see!

And get USED!  How the wheels of the criminal mind turn!  Rife with possibilities!  The unexpected becomes an advantage.  This is why Jared spent time in the can and Jeff stayed on the outside…  Jared ignores all safety labels and fires up inside the tent…  Yes they are inexperienced at fishing and camping, as Mr. Dunlap points out…  so quick to judge, we are!  And not to be picky… but the conjunction in the first frame should be ‘and’ and not ‘but…’ since the critical remark has little or nothing to do with whether Dunlap “knows these men” or not…

I have never seen Mark yawn before!  That is a really funny picture!  Despite the coffee being served in panel one, the Sandman is beating Mark to the punch!  Well, sleep tight, defender of the forest.  You will need all your strength to combat the forces of evil lurking just outside your door…

…and other maxims and witticisms can be found in Mark Trail’s new book, The Occasional Fisherman, or how I spent my life avoiding my family by staying in the woods… But Mark, considering how I have seen you use a bait casting rig with the reel hanging on the underside of the rod, I wouldn’t be throwing stones here…  While Andy’s robber-radar picked up on the no-goodnicks right off the bat, it’s taking Mark a little while and some strong visual clues to get the same place.  Curse Mark Trail- leave it to him to expose the phony fisherman come robbing ruse!

No, don’t check in the pack basket, Pops, you will see that we came loaded not for salmon, but for stealing!  And Cherry looks like she is all fluffed and folded in panel three.  Andy seems to be concentrating on something in the water.  Or looking away in shame at what a dimwit his master is…

Andy knows white trash when he sees it…  sort of a sixth sense…  and right now he has the stink-eye on Jeff, nestled in the crook of panel one.  Maple syrup? How random is that?!?  This Dunlap fellow is so lonely it causes him to use any prop or excuse to make conversation… “Come see my museum…”  “here’s maple syrup… great on flapjacks…”  and what’s with the butterfingers, Jared?  Do you have any idea how many gallons of sap it takes to cook down to a measly quart jar?

And what’s with the sudden rise of purple mountain’s majesty in panel two?  Are they reacting to the impending doom of the glass jar of brother maple’s life flow?  Seriously.  Panel one, nothing, panel two, bam!

Well, that makes more sense, I suppose.  But which is which??  Is the guide Jared, in the back, doing all the paddling, or Jeff in the front, doing all the talking?  Jeff is probably a more credible client: loud mouthed, complaining, not letting the guide do his job…

Really, Old Man, do you think everyone in the world wants to see “your museum?”  You have pushed this collection on anyone who happens to stumble your way, even called the newspaper about it, which is about to get you into a real mess… Considering your latest guests have given you their real names, (or at least the half of them) they are going to have to add murder to their list of misdeeds, since the last thing they want to do is GET CAUGHT again…

“Trail?  Mark Trail?  Shit, Man.  I have heard of that do-gooder,” Jeff thinks to himself, his new ‘Mr. Clean’ look making him all the wiser and more evil…