The Case of the Measled Cowboy is the 33rd book in the Hank the Cowdog series.
The family is all ready for a trip to Abilene when Sally May diagnoses Little Alfred with a case of the measles. With lots of persuasion, Loper and Slim manage to convince her to leave him home under the hired hand's care, and at first things seem to go well; Little Alfred even seems to have gotten over his illness. However, then Slim begins exhibiting some suspicious symptoms. Soon the boy and the ranch's Security Division are dealing with a sick cowboy, a winter storm, and a determined Miss Viola. With all the chaos ensuing, can everyone get things fixed before Sally May returns and has their heads for the mess?
This book contains the song "We'll Never Pull This Stunt Again".
This book includes examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Nickname: Slim calls Little Alfred "Button" several times during the book.
- Braving the Blizzard: Downplayed. Hank and Little Alfred have to go out to the woodpile so the house can get warmed after the electricity goes out. It isn't all that far, but the storm is intimidating to both of them.
- Chekhov's Skill: Played With. Slim lets Little Alfred "drive" one of the pickups to the pasture (really him steering while sitting in Slim's lap). When Miss Viola doesn't reach the ranch, Little Alfred thinks he could take the truck out to look for her. Hank recognizes it's a bad idea, and sure enough, Little Alfred runs the pickup into a fence.
- Definitely Just a Cold: Downplayed. Slim's symptoms start out relatively mild (hot flashes and fatigue), and he dismisses them as a cold. Little Alfred points out the red spots on his skin, and Slim ignores him. He insists that grown men don't get kids' sicknesses like measles until Miss Viola agrees with Little Alfred.
- Detrimental Determination: Played With; on the one hand, Slim is correct when he warns Miss Viola how dangerous it is to try to drive to the ranch in the middle of a snowstorm; she runs off the road and the others have to come rescue her. On the other hand, once she arrives, she puts everything from the spilled food to the wrecked fence to rights rather quickly, keeping everyone from getting in trouble with Sally May.
- Eating Pet Food: Little Alfred fixes Slim a plate of hash when he's down with the measles. Later, Slim notices the can it came out of and states that it was dog food. When the boy apologizes, Slim tells him not to worry; ranch dog food can't be too bad for a cowboy, and it actually tasted better than the hash he usually eats. (This may be because Little Alfred heated it up and added ketchup.)
- Failed a Spot Check: Little Alfred prepares a meal for Slim without looking at the can closely enough to see the German Shepherd, which would have told him the can was dog food and not cowboy hash.
- Fell Asleep Driving: Slim has a hard time staying awake when he comes down with the measles. When they're driving to pick up Miss Viola from the roadside, he falls asleep mid-sentence. Luckily, Little Alfred wakes him up with a shriek. He continues to do so whenever it looks like Slim might drift off.
- Hypocritical Humor: While Hank and Drover are discussing the scratches on Hank's nose, Drover uses a few five-dollar words such as "lacerations" and "facial trauma". Hank tells him to cut it out, saying he's not impressing anyone with his immature "expeditionism."
- I Can Explain: Hank begins to rehearse his explanation to the woman of the house, Sally May, for the tremendous mess that he and her son made in her absence. However, he admits he can't get any farther than "I can explain."
- Insane Troll Logic: Hank tells Drover that a centipede is a foot long. His reasoning? "Centipede" is composed of the roots "centi" and "pede". "Centi" comes from "cent", and a penny is only one cent.
- Please, I Will Do Anything!: When Slim finds out that the family is coming home early, he asks Miss Viola for help with clean-up so Sally May won't be furious. He explicitly says that she's got him over a barrel, and, though he protests when she asks him to take her to a dance, he has no choice but to agree, despite how poorly he dances.
- Rugged Scar: Hank tells Drover that it takes a lot of bravery to get a bunch of scars on one's nose (from things like humbling the cat). Drover doesn't buy the desirability of it.
- Shout-Out: Hank calls the scratches Pete left on his nose "the Red Batch of Courage."
- Sick Episode: Although he seems to heal quickly, the story starts with Little Alfred getting measles. Slim then comes down with them and is knocked flat by the effects, leaving the boy and the dogs to run things themselves.
- Toilet-Drinking Dog Gag: Getting thirsty after being let into the house, Hank sniffs out water...which turns out to be the toilet bowl. He doesn't exactly see the problem but feels ashamed when Little Alfred yells at him not to do it.
