 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hyo-silver, the Lone Ranger. With his faithful Indian companion, Tuttle, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse, Silver. The Lone Ranger rides again. Four men had spent the night on lost hope desert. Two were lawmen and the other two were prisoners. Sheriff Bart Sanders and his deputy Greg Morton had taken turns on guard. Idaho Keller had slept all night, but his partner, Ward Verner, had only pretended to sleep. Lying quietly near the waterhole, Ward had worked steadily and methodically on the rope that held his hands together. His efforts were rewarded at daybreak. Idaho, hey Idaho, wake up! What's that? Oh, morning, huh? Oh, I'm so lame I can hardly move. Listen to me, Idaho. I've been working on these ropes all night. I think I can slip my hands out. Can you, Ward? Can you? I've got to be more careful now that it's light. You keep an eye on the lawmen. Let me know when they look this way. I'm watching them. They're getting breakfast now. Yeah, I know. I've got one hand loose and the other one in just a second. I hunch forward a little bit and shield me. You'd better hurry, Ward. The sheriff will be coming to feed us in the jiffy. That does it. Now, hold still. I'll see what I can do about untying you. Keep your hands behind your back when I get you untied. You may have to jump the sheriff and his deputy to get the gun. Leave it to me. How you coming there? Be patient, will you? What we've learned since we started out from White Rapids, we can make a clean-up on this trip. Pull your hands apart a little. That does it. Now, I can get this knot. You're a great guy. You see the prisoners are awake, eh? I hope you two have some rest. We've got lots of travel ahead of you. Cancel him. I'd expect a man to arrest when he's hog-tied like a calf for Brandon. You chimp's needn't complain. You might have tied your feet as well as your hands. Hey, uh, I don't want you. Now, keep your hands behind you until we get the chance to act. Right. Hey, sheriff. Eh? Do we get some vitals or do you aim to starve us? All right. Untie it one at a time so she can eat. Thanks. Yeah. You're right to know you don't expect us to go all the way to 10 strike on an empty stomach. Turn around, Warden. You're surprised, huh? Hey, there you make a move and I'll let daylight through you. Here, Idaho. Take the sheriff's other gun. I got it. Tell him that you get free. Keep your hands where they are, deputy. It's time, Idaho. I'll do that problem. Boys, you're making a big mistake. You're slated for three years in jail. If you're smart, you'll take it as it stands. I don't like jail. Me neither. You won't like a hangman's rope either. That's what you get if you shoot lawman. We don't aim to shoot you, sheriff. Me and Idaho don't like murder or hangman. You and your deputy just take it easy and we'll leave you without so much as a scratch. And you can't get away. No. Well, you just better not bet on that. Sheriff, you thought you were being smart. You told everybody you were taking us to 10 strike by way of the pass. You figured that if we had pals, they'd be waiting in the pass to free us. So you spread the story, but instead of going through the pass, you're cutting across the desert. Good buddy. Here's what about it. Nobody knows you came this way. No one will think to look for you in the desert. Meaning what? Meaning we don't have to kill you. All we have to do is leave you here without a horse. Maybe you can walk to 10 strike, but I doubt it. We won't have to walk. We'll run you two done of the last thing we do. You know better than that, Sheriff. Who's to find you? No one crosses this desert. Now listen, what? You leave us here without horses. It's the same as murder. Not quite the same, Greg. There's a lot of difference. Idaho, you take that deputy's badge. Always thought I'd like a lawman's badge. Sheriff, I'll help myself to that star you're aware of. Bird, bird, jerk, field. No. Next time I'll hit you with this gun barrel. Now I'll take that badge. Don't move. Don't try anything foolish. All right. You've got my badge. What good will it do you? Plenty of good. You know, Sheriff, you talk too much. What do you mean? You and your deputy figure that you were safe in discussing plans in front of me and Idaho. You're told about the trip you're aiming to make to Littlefield after turning us over to the law in 10 strikes. I remember that, Ward. They were to pick up a shipment of gold from the Littlefield stage and take it to the bank at White Rapids. That's right, Idaho. With these badges and the credentials of the lawman, what's to stop us from picking up that gold? Only we won't take it to the bank at White Rapids. You think you can get away with anything like that? Sheriff, I remember you saying to your deputy that neither of you were known in Littlefield. Now, hold still while I get your credentials. Seems to me you keep them in your shirt pocket. Hold still, lawman, don't move. Here they are. You got them, Ward? Yeah, yeah, these are what we need, Idaho. Now, at least that breakfast and shell on. Taking all the horses with us. Two days of travel took Ward Burner and Idaho Keller beyond the desert. They let the horses belonging to the sheriff and his deputy into a woods. As they approached a clear stream of running water in the heart of the forest, the outlaw named Ward signaled a halt. Oh, hold there, hold there. It's mighty good to get out of the sun. Yeah, is it? Well, what are the horses here? Right, steady boy. And while we're at it, I'm going to douse my face in their stream. It looks cool. That's a good idea. That water is cool, Ward. It feels good to get that desert dust off your face, don't it? Yeah, yeah. Want my extra bandana to dry your face? Thanks. What's our next move, Ward? We've got to hide our saddles. You know what for? We're going to have to ride the lawman's horses into Littlefield. That means we've got to turn our own Chris loose. I never thought of that. We'll hide our saddles so as nobody can find them. Yeah, that's savvy. Well, we might as well get to it. Ward and Idaho hid their saddles and then turned their horses loose. Riding the horses of the sheriff and the deputy, they emerged from the woods and proceeded along the trail to Littlefield. Idaho. Yeah? Look across there. You see them two riders? Yeah. What about me? One of them's a red ski. The other's wearing a mask. Get that, Idaho. A man wearing a mask is generally hiding from the law. We can maybe team up with him. Oh, you give me a laugh. Yeah, what's funny? Look at the badges we wear. You're a deputy and I'm a sheriff. We're law. We got authority. What? We could use a little cash till we get our hands on that gold, couldn't we? You mean? I mean we're going to use our authority as officers of the law. We'll stop those fellas. After stopping them, we'll help ourselves to any cash they have handed. Yeah, I got a hand to you, Ward. You're smart. Being crook, those two won't be likely to complain to the law. Come on. Let's go after them. Get up there. Get up, Ward. Hold on there. Stop where you are. Don't go for your guns. Hold it. Is that a sheriff's bed? You bet it is. Now raise your hands. Why? Because I say so. I'm the law. Not here. This is Littlefield County. Then Lathrop is sheriff here. I don't know who you are or where you came from, but I do know you haven't any authority. Tell them who you are, sheriff. I'm Sheriff Sanders from White Rapids, and this is my deputy. Neither one of us has taken any lip from our boss. If you're arresting us, you must have a charge. There don't need to be any charge. We're looking for stolen cash. We'll search you in the Indian. You're mighty high-handed. We're not outlaws, and we have nothing that's been stolen. Don't argue with him, sheriff. I don't intend to. I'll cover them, deputy. You search them. Looks to me as though a couple of crooks are wearing lawman's badges. I'm not going to be searched. Oh, no. No. At them silver. No, no. Come on, come on. Give me friction. I got it silver directly forward, so suddenly that the outlaws were caught off guard. He knocked aside the gun that Idaho was holding while Tahoe charged into wart. In a moment it was over. Wart and Idaho were sprawled on the ground beside their horses, while the masked man and Tahoe were still in the saddle. All right, come on, Tahoe. We'll get away from here. Maybe finish these, fellow. Not now, Tahoe. Come on. Come on. Get them out of the sky. Where's my gun? Where'd they knock my gun? How'd I know? Shoot them, Idaho. Shoot them. Get them both. I can't find my gun. Get this one here. It's no use, Ward. No use shooting out of range. You wouldn't have a chance of hitting them. God, Connick. Ward, it looks like we overplayed our hand. Those critters outsmarted us. They didn't outsmart me. It's just that that masked man's horse was too darn fast. Close the door, please. Hello. Why are we right way? Why not stay? Teach them good lessons. They're supposed to be lawmen, Tahoe. Not good, Robin. They said they were from White Rapids. I'd like to know what kind of law they have in that city. We go there? Yes, I think we shall. Cross desert? No, that route is too hard on the horses. We go through the pass. Get them up, Scott. After a long hard ride, the lone ranger and Tahoe reached the vicinity of White Rapids. The masked man remained in camp while Tahoe went into town to make inquiries. When the faithful Indian rejoined his friend, he had much to report. Look as though you found out something, Tahoe. Me learned plenty. Yes. Teller we meet, not lawmen from White Rapids. That's what I thought. Me talked with Teller in town. Him showed picture of sheriff and deputy. Are they the men we met? No. Teller we meet, prisoners of law. Sheriff and deputy take them from White Rapids to jail in Timstrike. Tahoe, are you sure of that? Me sure. And those prisoners overpowered the law and stole the badges. They may have killed the sheriff and the deputy with him. No. Me not think so. Outlaws' names, Wart Verner and Idaho Keller. Wart Verner and Idaho Keller, yes. I've heard of them. I've heard they never kill. Man in town say sheriff take prisoners to Timstrike, then go to Littlefield to get gold for bank. Gold? That right. Stages bring gold to Littlefield. Sheriff go there, get gold, bring back. That's why those crooks stole the badges. Outlaws pose as lawmen. Yes. They make a play for the gold at Littlefield. Stages do there in two days. There's no time to get someone from White Rapids. I think Silver and Scout can make the trip. They have two things to do, Tonneau. We must protect that gold and we must find out what happened to the sheriff and his deputy. That right. Silver, we're traveling, big fella. We're starting now. Yes, easy, big boy. Let's go, Tonneau. Me ready. Come on. Get him up, Scout. The curtain falls on the first act of our lone ranger story. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue our story. When the lone ranger and Tuttle learned that men they had met on the trail were outlaws posing as lawmen, they raced toward the town of Littlefield in an effort to prevent the theft of a shipment of gold and to learn the fate of a missing sheriff and his deputy. It was shortly after dark when the masked man and the Indian dismounted in front of the sheriff's office in Littlefield. There's no light in the sheriff's office, Tuttle. Maybe sheriff, not in. I see a light in the jail in the back of the building. Right back there. We go see. Yes, come on. The cells in the back are empty. Me see him. Maybe sheriff come by and by. We haven't time to wait for him. What do we do now? The only thing we can do is to go to the office of the stage line and tell the manager what we know. Do you know Fowler in the stage office? No, I don't. Maybe him not believe you. We have to try to make him believe us. Come on. There, stage office on the other side of street. Yes, there's a light in the office. The manager must be there. I'll make sure he's alone before I go inside. Here. Here, window. Yes. Where did I look into the office? You. You see manager? One man in there. He's riding at the desk. Maybe better me wait out here. Yes. If you see anyone heading for the office, warn me. Uh-huh. What? Take it easy. Fast. Don't be alarmed. Who are you? Is this a holdup? No, it's no holdup. Don't reach in that drawer. Put your hand back. The gun is merely for protection. What do you want here? Are you the manager of the stage line? Yes, I am. Good. You're the man I want to talk to. It's the manager. I can tell you there's nothing here for you to steal. I didn't come here to steal anything. A masked man holding a gun makes a statement like that hard to believe. Now listen to me. I know there's a stage due to arrive tonight. That stage is carrying a shipment of gold. So you plan to steal it, huh? No. I came to warn you against outlaws. What outlaws? Two men came to Littlefield within the last three or four days. They represented themselves as a sheriff and deputy from White Rapids. Yeah, they're down at the cafe now. They're not lawmen. Not lawmen. No. One of them is a crook named Wart Werner. The other is known as Idaho Killer. You're local. One sheriff Sanders from White Rapids and the other is deputy Greg Morton. Do you know Sheriff Sanders by sight? No, but I saw his credentials. The badge and papers were stolen from the real sheriff. I don't believe it. Well, that's up to you. You're up to some scheme. You want me to keep that gold here so you can get it. Even if you don't believe me, you can take precautions. Call in the local sheriff and ask him to guard the gold until I can prove my statement. The sheriff's out of town. And you most likely knew it. Then get other men. Get your friends. It's just what I'm going to do. Good, good enough. But don't turn over the gold to the men who are posing as White Rapids lawmen. Mr. How do you aim to prove what you told me? Well, I've got to find the real sheriff Sanders. But to do that, I'll need your help. You want me to help you? Yes. Please listen to me before you say any more. The Lone Ranger talked at length to detail the reason for his suspicions and of his plan to expose the crooks and learn the fate of Sheriff Bart Sanders and his deputy. Bill Clay, the agent, listened with increasing interest. In the end, he agreed to cooperate. The masked man left the office to rejoin Tato. It was about an hour late here when the masquerading crooks left the cafe and strolled toward the station. In just a little while, I don't know. We'll have our hands on more gold than we ever saw before. The stage is due now. But it's usually a few minutes late. Let's clay the agent down the steps of the station. Howdy, Clay. Howdy, Sheriff. Howdy, Deputy. We thought we'd be here when the stage got in so we wouldn't have to waste time collecting the gold and starting for home. Uh-huh. Sit down. Yeah. We didn't hanker for the job of coming for this gold, but the bank and white rapids are as mighty anxious to get it. I reckon so, Sheriff. Hey, Clay! It's Steve! Well, just about on time. Look at her come. Come on, Deputy. Are you sure the gold will be on board the stage, Clay? It'll be there all right. Oh, oh, you're ready. Oh, what mistake was that? Hey, Jett. Howdy, Clay. Get that box I'm expecting from Painesville. Yes, right here. You'll have to give me a hand with it. Is that the box we're looking for, Clay? Yep. I'll help you carry it to the office. Hand it down, Jett. Yeah. Here's your guns. Grab, hold the end of it. Let it go. I'll get the other end. There you are. Come on, Clay. All right. Watch out for the steps, fellas. Yeah, we'll make it. Don't go on heavy. I'll have to split the load to carry it on our horses. And I'll just carry it into the desk and we can set it out. Right. Put it down right here. It's mighty heavy. Make quite a load for our saddlebags. Close the door, Deputy. We don't want folks to see what we got here. Yeah, sure. You help us load up, Clay? Yeah. Yeah, just as soon as there's one more thing attended to. What's that? Well, you know, the paper from the bank. Huh? What paper? You don't mean to say you forgot it, Sheriff. What are you talking about? Sheriff, you know as well as I do, I'm not turning over this gold. You give me that paper. Look here, Clay, don't you trust me? We showed you our credentials. What more do you want? I got word from the bank in white wrappers that you two would be here for this gold. But at the same time, I was told you'd have a letter from the bank to show me. Now, see here, if you figure to store this gold... If you're on the level, you'll produce the letter. If you can't show the letter, our figure is a pair of crooks. What? That being the case, you'll probably try a stick-up. And get shot by men who are ready and waiting for just such a move. You're calling us crooks? Hold on. Come to think of it, there was a paper given me by the bank. But it didn't pay much attention to it. Must be with my things at the hotel. Go get it, then you can have the gold. Then again, maybe I lost it back on the trail somewhere. I threw away some things where we made camp one night. The paper isn't at the hotel. Me and my deputy will have to ride back and look for it. I'll wait here for half an hour, so sure? In case you do find it at the hotel. Thanks. Well, not back in half an hour. You'll hold that gold for a day or so. Wart, why didn't we pull guns and take the gold? Wouldn't be a fool out of how we wouldn't have had a chance. Oh, what? We've got to get that letter. We've got to go back to that water hole on the desert and get that letter from the sheriff. Maybe the sheriff and the deputy have left the water hole. Not a chance. They're not fools enough to leave it, not to go walking across the desert on foot. They know they'd die. They'll stay near water and I hope someone will find it. Yeah, I hope you're right. I didn't hear the sheriff say anything about a letter. He must have it. I'm sure he is. We'll get it. Marooned by Wart and Idaho and without hope of rescue, Sheriff Sanders and his deputy made the best of a bad situation. The desert water hole afforded them drink, but they were weak from hunger when the fourth night closed in. Sure. I wonder if there's a worse way to die than this. Quit talking about it. That don't help any. I know. I was just wondering. It's food, I'm thinking of. I suppose it helps to think of it. Of course you don't. How can you stop thinking about it when your ribs are nudging your backbone? Maybe we shouldn't have stayed here. What else could we do? We could have started walking. Without canteens, traveling where even a horse has a hard time of it. If we'd have done that, we wouldn't be sitting here worrying about grub. We'd be grub. Grub for buzzards. Why can't someone ride along this way? That's a foolish question. We wouldn't have come here this way ourselves. If I hadn't been afraid someone would try to get those cooks away from us before we reached the 10-strike jail. Sometimes I get the wishing so hard for someone to come along. I'll begin to imagine I hear them. Like now. Yeah, shoot it. Hold on, Grie. That does sound like a horseman. I can't be... Listen. You're right. I can make out the riders now. Hey. I can't be sure. But in the moonlight, those horses look like us. Man, they are. We figured we'd find you out of here. Hold on, hold on, hold on. You came back to get us? Don't get your hopes up. It's not you we came for. It's a letter you have. You might as well hand it over, sir, without putting up a fuss. Right now, you don't look like you could put up much of a fight. What letter are you talking about? You know the one? The letter they gave you at the bank. At the bank? Playing dumb, huh? Well, I won't get you anywhere. Stand up. Stand up, I said. That's better. You got home, my baby. We'll soon find out how to hold keep you shooting our name at these two while I search and ride. I'll start with you, chef. You loco. The bank didn't give me a letter. What would they do that for? Nothing in these pockets. I would the bank give you a letter. The manager of the stage nine at Littlefield would turn the gold over to you. I don't know what you're talking about. Chef, don't have the letter, Idaho. I'll search the deputy. Oh, listen, you. Shut up. It's funny. Don't find it anywhere. You're supposed to have hidden it somewhere. They might have. You too, a loco. Listen, chef, I never killed a man before. There's a lot of gold waiting for me in Littlefield if I get back with that letter. Enough gold to make a killing worthwhile. So start telling what you did with that letter and talk fast. Hey, don't know anything about a letter I tell you. That's the way you wanted him. Oh, jeez. Raise your hands, bullio. What? It's a mess, man. The rich kid. You, Idaho. Drop your gun. I am. My hand's hurt. Manager's hand, follow. Rope both of them. I miss you. That man's cool. Sheriff. Sheriff, you and your deputy can ride double with us. We'll help you take these crooks to jail in Tenstrike. Then you can go onto Littlefield and get the gold. For my mask, I'm giving you no more information. Mr. I don't care who you are. You're all right. If you hadn't come here... Ah, listen, Wart. The sheriff knew nothing about a letter because there was no letter. What? But Clay told us... The manager of the stage line told you that to send you here so you lead us to the sheriff. You... You trick us. Well, I'll be doggone. You know what? Almost makes me forget how hungry I am. Just thinking of how that masked man fooled you, too. Crooks tied up now. Get on horses. Good enough, Kimizabi. Here, get on my horse, Sheriff. Steady, Silver. All right. Up with you. Greg will ride with Tutto. Uh-huh. Me help him. Thanks, Indian. You're helping us take those crooks here? Yes, and right now. Easy, big fella. Easy. Ready, Tutto? Steady. You ready? Take me. I got it now. This is the Lone Ranger. Get along, you two. Yeah, man. Come on, Silver. Get him up scout. This is a feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated. Created and produced by George W. Trendle and directed by Charles D. Livingston. Tonight's story was written by Fran Stryker. A part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer.