Widder and Family Move In

Originally Aired: January 26, 1940 Lum #249, "Widder and Family Move In," Lum finds himself in a desperate situation. Though he's decided not to marry Florence Beaumont, the supposedly wealthy widow who came to Pine Ridge in response to his marriage proposal, she remains quarantined in town after one of her children contracts whooping cough. Terrified of being sued for breach of promise after a previous costly lawsuit, Lum attempts an outrageous scheme to make the widow lose interest in him. He tells her he suffers from fits and decides to stage a convincing episode in front of the tourist camp. The performance goes spectacularly wrong when Lum ends up soaking wet, prompting Abner and Cedric to mistakenly believe he attempted suicide by jumping in the mill pond. When a drenched Lum arrives at the Jot 'Em Down store demanding dry clothes, the confusion deepens. Grandpap reveals what actually happened during Lum's fake fit, explaining how the widow responded to the theatrical display. As Lum warms himself by the stove in an oversized shirt, his friends try to understand his increasingly frantic attempts to escape matrimony.