Chickens Come Home to Roost

Originally Aired: March 25, 1940 Lum #274, "Chickens Come Home to Roost," Lum and Abner find themselves frustrated once again by their longtime nemesis, Squire Skelton. The arrival of Hollywood actors in Pine Ridge to film a picture has brought excitement and crowds to the sleepy town, but the storekeepers are losing out on the tourist business. Squire has outmaneuvered them yet again, renting their store building from them for $150 a month and then subletting it to the movie company for $500 a week. As they commiserate over Squire's latest scheme, Lum and Abner recall his many past swindles, from worthless stock deals to the disastrous circus purchase where Squire bought their circus for a thousand dollars and immediately sold the animals to the county zoo for four thousand. When Lum philosophically observes that "chickens always come home to roost," meaning that Squire will eventually face consequences for his dishonest dealings, Abner takes the expression literally. What follows is a comical misunderstanding as Abner insists on discussing actual chickens and their roosting habits, completely missing Lum's metaphorical point about justice and karma, much to Lum's exasperation.