… through some emotions…  Shock, Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Acceptance.

You can see them all on his various expressions…

Easy there, big guy, don’t hurt yourself!  That head-swivel is reserved for those a little younger than you…

All righty then!  Enough with the Mark-splaining…  This is getting more tedious than usual!

And I can’t stop looking at how she is drawn in panel one…  What happened to her hips?  JJ isn’t saying much either…  At least not while Mark is man-splaining away…

Poor Doc!  He had such high hopes!  The disappointment on his craggy face is obvious, even from a rear-three-quarter angle…

And it would appear that this stranger was a very a patient sort…

Such is life…  This Bearded Stranger also appears to have been a Confidence Man…  playing on the hopes and dreams of others- including JJ, Doc and Leola… Mark was the only one of the group to keep his head on straight…

Now what to do about JJ?  Now that he has shown his true colors?

Yes, the chest is empty…

…but for a “framed newspaper?”  Because that’s what you did with newspapers back in the day, right?

The robbers all escaped…

… until they didn’t, or at least two didn’t escape… because they were shot.  But given the age of the “Bearded Stranger” then, and Doc now, I am guessing he is dead.  So tell us Mark, tell us what you “understand” now…

Empty!

Just like for a dog there is nothing more exciting than what might lie on the other side of a closed door, we get our hopes up that the chest would be brimming with treasure!  Not so fast, Buckaroo!

Seeing that Doc can experience disappointment on this scale suggests that he hasn’t known disappointment at all…

… and we waste no time with this part of the story…

Cool Hand Mark… but what if this is like the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark?  And all manner of Angel, Archangel, Demon and such come flying out and heads start exploding and faces start melting?!

…the only question I have is why does JJ still have his backpack on?

Now that Mark has punched JJ (once!) into submission, and Leola has the gun, he seems to be ready to join “Team Trail…”  It would be funny if one had been following the story and missed ” The Punch” and now would be wondering “what the he**is going on?!”  Of course those of us who don’t miss a day still ask that question from time to time…

But yes, What in the world could be in that chest?  It’s a Treasure Chest, (as opposed to a boot locker,) so it must be treasure, right?  My guess is that our little friend, the creepy doll, is inside!!

This is weird… with Leola holding the gun it has been reduced in stature… compared to when JJ was wielding it…

And never mind that Leola is now pointing muzzle at Mark and Doc, with her finger on the trigger?  Given the look on her face, one could put other words into that speech bubble, like, “No more fancy stuff, Mr. Fisticufs…”

Doc is perplexed as always, and I am guessing that JJ is still out cold.  Mark is one of the original players of “The Knockout Game…” One punch is all it takes…  thankfully he only uses his powers for good.

Once again the astute readership called it!!

And with JJ distracted on the would-be gold, Mark lands a haymaker and sends the double-crossing bastard flying, backpack and all!!

Poor guy… what, was he expecting the scene out of National Treasure?

As JJ’s countenance continues to get more and more screwed up, Mark displays an expression I don’t think I have ever seen before…

Call it disinterested, lethargic Mark… where even the exclamation points in the speech balloon seem to be out of place!  Whereupon JJ displays (again) a massive dose of confirmation bias… We are seeking gold, therefore all that “glints” has to be gold…