 The New Roy Rogers Radio Show. Folks, it's the New Roy Rogers Radio Show for the whole family. Adventure, suspense, mystery, and music. Darring Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys and Dale Evans, Queen of the West, with Pat Brady, the mellow man and an all-star cat. And now, here to greet you with a song and story, our Roy and Dale. Who shadows on the fray? All you folks, big folks and little folks, greetings to the whole family. We've got a song and a story for you. You can hear the song now. It's coming up over the hills, kind of like the time it did when Dale and Pat and me went up into Utah to visit a friend of mine, Old Man Merritt. Mr. Merritt owned a hundred acres of the finest Virgin Timber you ever saw. Tall, wonderful trees that he'd cultivated and worried over. Some of them he'd even planted himself. Well, after we got there, we learned about the drought. It hadn't rained in months and everybody was worried, including the Indians. Over on the reservation, they were having a ceremonial to the rain god. And we went to see it. Well, I don't know if you've ever seen one of those Indian ceremonials or not, but they really are something and guaranteed to bring rain within 48 hours. Well, Old Man Merritt's son, Dave Jr., Dale, and Pat and me were enjoying the festivities when all of a sudden a cry went out. Fire! Fire! Yes, a fire broke out on the mirror property. The hot flames were already licking at some of the trees. And if the wind came up strong, there was no telling what might happen. Bro, I can't you go any faster. Take it easy, Dave. I'm driving as fast as I can and still be safe. Don't worry, Dave. We'll get there before the fire reaches the timber. Well, there's your place now, Dave. There's one of the hands. Bill! Hi, Mr. Dave. Bill, where's my dad? Not near the edge of the fire. Oh, he shouldn't be out there. That's what I told him. Come on. Dale, you and Pat stay here. Let's go, Dave. Boy, listen. Yeah, that's not a pretty sound. If anything happens to those trees, it'll just about kill your dad, Dave. I know. Think you're done. Get away from me. You call yourself a son. Murderer. Dad. Hold on now, Mr. Merritt. Well, that's what he is. He set this fire. He hates the trees. My beautiful trees. He wants to sell the land. The land. What do I care about land? The land's no good unless something's planted on it. Something of gods that grows and flourishes. Mr. Merritt, you can't stay here. Let's go back to the house and see what we can do. No. I stay here. If the trees die, I want to go with them. I hope you're satisfied, Dave. If the wind blows harder, you'll have your wish. The trees will be gone. And you can sell the land. How is he, Roy? He's resting. Dave, your dad's pretty sore at you. I know. What's all this talk about selling the land? What Dad said was true. Dad's got an offer from Fred Brooks. He wants to cut the trees down and farm the land. He offered a good price more than it's worth. He'll get us out of debt, Roy. I see. I don't want to hurt Dad, Roy, but believe me, selling the land is the only thing we can do. Come in. Evening, Dave. Fred, I was just talking about you. Roy, this is Fred Brooks. Fred meets Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Pat Brady. Oh, now they're pleased to meet you. Dave, I'm sorry about this fire. I am over to tell you that if it's Fred's, I won't be able to go through with my original offer. But Fred, you were going to cut down the trees anyway. Well, sure, and sell them. Then you mean if the trees burn down, the deal's off? Well, no, not entirely, but I'll have to reduce my offer. Well, then you'll still buy even without the trees. Dave, you know I wasn't interested in the trees. I'd like to make a farm out of this land. Roy. Yes? Listen. The wind's coming up. That means the trees will burn. They'll burn to the ground. Oh, poor Mr. Merritt. Roy! Roy! Oh, Mr. Merritt, you shouldn't be up. You're tired and you've been burned. Roy, save my trees, my beautiful trees. Go to the reservation. See Mr. Gage. He runs a general store there. He knows all the Indians. Tell him what's happened. Get the Indians to help fight the fire. The Indians know how. They're the best firefighters in the country. Please, Roy, please. Oh, sure, Mr. Merritt. I'll get them. Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Rogers. I'll send word to the chief of the tribe. He'll be here in a few minutes. Thanks, Mr. Gage. Quiet, bullet. Quiet, boy. Fine dog, you got there. I think he's hungry. Hungry? Well, we just take care of that little thing right now. Here. Here's a dog biscuit, bullet. Well, maybe you better feed it to him, Mr. Rogers. All right. Now, bullet, take it nice. That's a boy. Here's chief now. Come in, chief. Good evening, Mr. Gage. This, I presume, is the famous Roy Rogers. How do you like that? I was all set to talk to you in sign language, chief. Yes. That, unfortunately, is one of the common fallacies. I was educated at Harvard. Chief? Fact is, old man Merritt's trees are burning down. Mr. Rogers came over to ask you to turn out your firefighters and help save them. Mr. Rogers, this may sound callous and without feeling to you, but I must explain how we feel about Mr. Merritt's land. It is now burning. It is only right that it should be burning. It is the land of the blue shadow made for burning. Now, if you will excuse me. Well, chief, wait. Oh, Mr. Gage, can't you do something? Chief? Yes, Mr. Gage. As a personal favor to me, couldn't you see your way clear to call out your firefighters and see if you can't save those trees? Well, it is a wasted effort, but I suppose if we did not try, we would be accused of being inhuman. Very well, Mr. Rogers. I will order my tribe to go and help fight the fire. It will do no good. But we will go. Yeah. Okay, fellas, pile out. You know what to do. Dad's not in his room. What? Bill says he got up about an hour ago and went out to the fire. Oh, no, he'll be hurt. Come on, Dave. Let's find him. What are you doing out here? Bandy and chief said it's hopeless. No. Sit up until we find Mr. Merrick. Go back to the house, Dale. Please, you'll get hurt. Roy! Come on, Dave. We've got to get him out of there. Come on. Roy, what's the matter? I turned my ankle. I stumbled over something. That's funny. Look. It's a milk bottle. Let me see it. Dale. Yes? What does this smell like to you? Let me see it. It smells like gasoline to me, too. I wonder if there's any more of these around here. A milk bottle filled with gasoline. Yeah, in the middle of a forest. Roy. The tree! I just stood there, right in the path of the tree. We've got to find out who set that fire and why. Then you're sure the fire was set deliberately. I was out there early this morning after the fire burned itself out. I found three more milk bottles. They all smelled of gasoline. But who would deliberately want to burn down the trees and why? Looks to me like there's a couple of people who might have a good reason. This fella, Brooks, who made the offer to buy the land and even, well, don't take offense, Dave, but you had a good reason, too. Me? Roy, why, that's an awful thing to accuse Dave of. I'm not accusing anybody yet. But I intend to find out who and what's at the bottom of it. Tell me some more about this fella, Brooks. Well, it seems to have quite a bit of money. Used to be a flyer, owns his own plane. He ever do any farming? Not that I know of. Hmm. How does your ankle feel this morning, Roy? A little sore, but it'll be all right. I broke the heel on my boot when I fell. Mr. Gage can fix that in his general store when you take the Indians back to the reservation. Morning, Dale. Roy. Morning, Dave. Morning, Pat. Say, Roy, you about ready to take the Indians back? Boy, they're stomping and chomping the gold. Get those Indians loaded up. I'll be right with you. Right, Roy. Okay, you guys. Get a move on. It's too bad, Mr. Roger. It sure is too bad. Mr. Merritt was a fine man. And he sure loved those trees. Yeah. Too bad the Indians couldn't get the fire under control before the trees burned down. But then the chief said it wouldn't do any good to go. I know, Mr. Gage. I still don't get what the chief meant by saying that the Merritt property was land made for burning. The land of the blue shadow. Do you know what he was driving at? The shucks know. I give up trying to figure Indians out a long time ago. I just sell them supplies and grain and do what I can to be neighborly. Your dog hungry again? No, they'll fed him just before we left. Say, Mr. Gage, you got any way of fixing this boo to mine? I turned my ankle last night, fighting the fire and broke the heel. Let me see. Yeah, I think I can fix it. Pull it off. I'll take it to the workshop and nail it back on. Okay. Here you are. All right. See you back in a minute. Hush, Bullet. Quiet. Now, you're not hungry, Bullet. Get away from behind that counter. Oh, pretty smart, aren't you? Yeah, I know. That's where Mr. Gage keeps the dog biscuit. Bullet, get out of there. Now what have you done? What are you trying to do? Bust up the store? Get your nose out of the counter. Looking here, you've already knocked down a flashlight. I'll see what you did. You broke it. It don't light up. Now, there's no sense in carrying on. We'll just tell Mr. Gage what happened and pay him for the damage. And there you are now, Mr. Rogers. That ought to do it. Looks as good as new. Well, thanks a lot. How much do I owe you? Now, the thing's pleased to help out. Well, I'll have to pay you for this flashlight. Now, I'm afraid Bullet broke it. Flashlight? Yeah, he was snooping around for some dog biscuits and knocked it on the floor. Oh, that's all right, Mr. Rogers. Just thinking of nothing of it. No, I insist. How much is it? You don't have to do that, Mr. Rogers. How much? Well, that's the way you want it. $1.65. Thank you. See what you cost me, Bullet? Just for that, you get no more steak for a week. Quiet, Bullet. Boy, would you mind telling Pat and me what this is all about? Yeah. Why are we riding horses out here to Mr. Brooks's place in the dead of night? I just want to take a look around Mr. Brooks's place, but I don't want him to know I'm snooping. Come on, Pat. We'll walk the rest of the way. I'm with you, Roy. Come on, Bullet. You got better ears and eyes than we have. But keep that big mouth that you are shut. Hold it, Pat. Hey, what's that over there? Looks like a barn. Yeah, let's see what's in it. Well, what do you know? An aerial plane. Yeah. Dave said Brooks owns his own plane. Hmm, sure as a small one. Hey, Roy. Yeah? What's this great big light hooked up on the landing gear? Landing light, maybe. Well, that's the biggest landing light I ever did see. You know anything about airplanes, Pat? I know enough not to get on one. I wish it wasn't so dark in here. Hey, I forgot. Maybe this flashlight I brought will work. Roy, look. I'm looking. What kind of a flashlight is that? Well, I don't give off none but a blue shadow. Yeah. Well, I'm going to climb in the plane and try to turn on that big light. You stay out here and tell me what you see. Okay. Anything happened yet, Pat? Nope. Not yet. It went on. Just then. Well, I don't see anything. What went on? Well, that big light on the landing gear. Only it don't give out a light either. It don't give out nothing but a big blue shadow. I wish you'd stop being so mysterious. First, you take us to the Brooks Place in the dead of night. Then this morning you have Pat and Dick up a lot of dirt off the merit place. And now you pile us in the car and don't tell us where we're going. Oh, I think I know where Roy's headed, Miss Dale. We're going to the reservation. That right, Roy? Yep. But why, Roy? What do you want with all this dirt? I'm dirtier than a hound dog a burying for a coo. Now, take it easy, all of you. I don't want to make a fool out of myself. And I could be dead wrong in what I think. We'll find out in a minute. Why are you stopping at the general store, Roy? I think we may find Mr. Brooks in here. And I want to have a little talk with him. Come on. Bullet, you stay outside here. Well, I'm right so far. Morning, Mr. Brooks. Howdy, Mr. Gage. This is Dale Evans and Pat Brady. I think you know Dave Merritt Jr. Sure, sure. Yeah. What can I do for you? Well, I inquired over to Brooks Place this morning and they told me he might be over here. I want to show him something. Uh, uh, don't they got follow you, Mr. Rogers? You will. Uh, Mr. Gage, you got another one of those flashlight like Bullet broke yesterday? Flashlight? I, uh, I know. That was the last one. You don't say. Well, then, uh, it's lucky I brought this one along. Dave, pull those blinds down. We need things nice and dark in here. Pat, dump that dirt on the counter. That's better. Now watch. I just spread a little of this dirt from the Merritt property on the counter and shine this flashlight on it. Look! Well, what is it, Roy? Look, it's burning! See what I mean? The flashlight don't give out a regular light, you see? It's a blue shadow. But when you shine it on this dirt, the dirt glows like a fire. Just like it was burning. That's what the Indian chief said, wasn't it, Mr. Brooks? The Merritt land was made for burning? It's the land of the blue shadow. Now, wait a minute, Ronches. You got me all wrong. This wasn't my idea. Sorry, lady. I hate to have to do a thing like that in front of you, but that bar mit was about to draw on Mr. Rogers. He'd have killed you, Mr. Rogers. I'm sorry you did that, Mr. Gage, because now you've got murder against you instead of arson. So you figured it all out, did you? Not quite all. Just enough to hang you. I wouldn't make any sudden moves if I were you. Just all of you stay right where you are. That's right. Now back away from the door, Mr. Rogers. I'm leaving. Nobody's going to stop me. Just keep your hands steady, Mr. Rogers. There! Let go! There you go! Okay, bullet. Let go, bullet. Let go, boy. That's enough. It's okay. Sorry, Mr. Gage. Bullet just thought you were a dog biscuit. Here's Roy now. Howdy, folks. Roy, what did the assayer tell you? The assayer? Oh, well, he and I got to talking about the drought, and he doesn't think it's going to rain for another month or two. Roy. Now look, what did he tell you about the dirt? The dirt? Oh, the dirt. Well, it seems that this property is just filled with autonite. It's a rich ore that contains uranium. Says it's worth about 100 bucks a ton. Dave, you're rich. Uranium. Roy, I can't begin to thank you. Don't thank me. Just get busy and dig this stuff up. The country can use it. Hey, Roy. You know, I think I got this here flashlight fixed now. I took out that bum bulb and put in a new one. See? Works fine now. You did what? Oh, Pat. Pat, I've got news for you. That wasn't an ordinary flashlight. That was what they call a blacklight, made of spacely for locating certain types of minerals in the ground. Yeah, you see, when you shine it on the earth, if it contains uranium, the dirt gives off a kind of a burning glow under the blue shadow of the light. Mm-hmm. Oh. Mm-hmm. So that's what the Indian chief meant by land made for burning. The land of the blue shadow. Yeah. Roy, there's a couple of things I'm not clear about. What was Brooke's connection with Mr. Gage? Just a hired hand. Gage evidently suspected that the land around here contained valuable ore. So he put in a supply of these black lights and tried to locate the properties that glowed. It was pretty slow work doing it that way. So he hired Brooks to fly a plane around at night with that big black light on it. I guess Dad's land glowed more than the rest. And your dad wouldn't sell on account of the trees. Right. So Brooks dropped milk bottles full of gasoline out of the plane and lit them with flares. Then it wasn't really Brooks who wanted to buy the land. It was Mr. Gage. That's right. Of course, when Brooks started to give him away, he had to shoot him. Hey, listen. It's raining. It sure is. Starting to pour like cats and dogs. What time is it, Dale? 3 o'clock. Why? Well, that's funny. Day before yesterday at 3 o'clock, the Indians put on their ceremonial to the rain god. Now it's raining. It's raining just exactly 48 hours later. And folks, that's the whole story of what happened to Dale and Pat and me in the Utah Hill, the land of the blue shadows. Shades of night while the wind begins to sigh and the world is still away against the sky. Take a liking to you. See you next week in television service.