 horse of the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. The early days of the Western United States, cattlemen, sheep, ranchers, and miners became bitter enemies. Living as neighbors but separated by their interests, there might have been open warfare if it were not for the mast right of the plains. It was he who made them realize that there was room for everyone in the great new territory and that only by cooperation could the winning of the West be accomplished. Join with us now those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver, the Lone Ranger rides again. The village of Cedar Grove, nestling at the base of a towering hill, owed his prosperity to the cattle industry, although recently an important gold strike had been made nearby. A prospector had discovered a rich vein a little more than half way up the hillside and had sold his claim to an eastern syndicate. Bullscannon had been imported by the syndicate to manage the mine made difficult by its position. As our story opens, he is directing some blasting operations and... Stand back there! He's going to let loose! Let her go! Let the blast and plow to loosen some more shale. It's tumbling down on the town. Bet that'll make them towns folks madder than ever. That'll blaze his willow. We gotta blast out this horde, don't we? Get back to work. Clear out the tunnel. Signal one is clear, we're blast again. All right boys, get a move on now. Pete, you better get in there and show the boys what to do. Wait a second, look down the trail. Huh? I reckon we're getting another visit from them towns folks. Oh, we are, are we? Jake! Hey there! What's your word, Bull? Rouse out the guards. Looks like trouble again. Tell them to get their rifles and stand by for orders. Of course they do. I know if you're handling this right, Bull. Why ain't I? Well, you can't hardly blame them for being mad, can you? I got orders to make this mine pay. I'm not going to cost them any work for extra cash for a lot of fool fixings. And if they don't like it in town, they can go to blazes. Maybe they're tough. But if they fool with me, they'll find I'm a blame-side tougher. Here they come. Boys are set, Bull. Good. Maybe they'll have a chance to earn their pay. That's old Grayson with them. Grayson, eh? I've been hankering to meet up with him. He's the one that's been doing most of the hollerin', ain't he? Yeah. Well, he's due to get towed off. It'll do him good to learn minors don't jump to hoop firm like common. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's him? Yeah. Watch me. Mr. Scanlon? That's me. My name's Grayson. Maybe you've heard of me. Well, maybe I have. What of it? My friends here have asked me to speak for them. Seems like there's some things it'd pay us to talk over. I think so. You've been doing quite a bit of blasting here. Uh-huh. I'll tell you how it is. You got your work to do, and just like the rest of us, I reckon you got your problem. Don't suppose you'd get much ore out less than you used blasting powder. But I wonder if you've stopped to think of what could happen if anything went wrong. I know my business. Sure. I never said you didn't. But you ever stopped to look over the formation of the land hereabouts? Why should I? Well, this hill here is mostly shale. Every time you set off one of your blasts, we get some of that shale on us in town below there. Now, it ain't been nothing to complain about special so far. But what we're afraid of is that maybe one of these days something'll loosen. Maybe you'll set off a bigger blast than usual. You're savvy what could happen then. What? You could start the whole side of the hill to slide in. And right at the bottom is town. You could bury cedar grove under shale 10 feet deep. So what am I to do? Now, don't misunderstand. We don't mean to tell you your business. But we figure there's a couple of things you could do. Yeah? For one, you could dig back into the hill here a ways a kind of terrace before your blast. That'd help some. What else are you asking? Well, then when you've done that, you could use smaller charges. Go easy on the powder. Cut down the risk of starting a slide. That all you've got to suggest? We figure that'd be enough. You've got any notion how much it would cost to dig like you say? Any idea the men would have to hire and feed? Oh, I suppose it would be a might more expensive. Using smaller charges a blast in powder. That would mean taking twice the time to get out the same amount of ore. Wouldn't that be better in risking folks' lives? What's ailing you folks down below there? Gear to your shadows? Jump every time a piece of loose stone comes rolling down? We ain't no more skittish than most, I reckon. You want my answer? That's what we rode here for. Then I'll make it short and easy to salvage. You can go to Blazers. I got a job to do. I was hired because I knew how to do it. I know what's dangerous and what ain't as good as the next fella. And I ain't letting a bunch of long-haired cow nurses in a pack of spooky towns folks give me orders. There's my answer. Take it or leave it. Wait, man. Scanlon, maybe you got us wrong. Yeah? We come here meanin' to be peaceable, and maybe that misled ya. It had sued us better to talk this over reasonable and come to a fair decision. But if you won't have it that way, why, I guess we can play any two new calls. That a threat? Yeah, I reckon it is. Me and my friends have had trouble before. First, it was rustlers, then squatters and sheepmen. We never went out of our way to hunt out trouble, but when it come, we handled it. Ask those that have gone up against us, those that ain't decorating Boothill. They'll allow we can stand up for our rights. You better recollect that and think it over. Jake. Wait, Bull. Shut up. Jake, tell your men I want these fellas off this property in just 30 seconds. If they ain't on their way by then, drill them. They're trespassers, and we can deal with them as such. Get going. Right. All right. I reckon we did. Well, men, we'll head back for town. We didn't come with trouble in mind, so we ain't set for it. Next time we'll be different. Start moving. We ain't through, Scanlon. Come on, men. Blasted meddlers. Bull, you're such a dog on headstrong, there ain't no use arguing with you. But those fellas ain't as ready to take this laying down as you seem to think. And it's my notion you've started something you won't be able to finish. Yeah? Get in that tunnel. And tell them in there to set the next charge. And make it just twice as large. The lone ranger and his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, were approaching Cedar Grove by the trail from the north. Suddenly there came the sound of a blast, which came from high on the hill they were skirting. That must be the new mine, Tether. Hey, wait, pull up. Oh, Silver, oh, God. I thought it did look there. There's slide. Shea loosened by the blast. It hit him cabin. He's headed that way, and there's someone in that cabin. Come on, Tonto. Come on, Silver, come on. Get him up, come. I saw a woman standing at the door for a moment. Hurry, open up. Hurry, get him up. Hi there, you in the cabin. Hi. Not here. Get out of that cabin. Her go inside. I saw my mask and doesn't know what's happening. Oh, Silver. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Come on here. Get clear of the cabin. Get back. Get back. There's a slide. You are too mischievous. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Put me down. Put me down. It's called hitting the saddle with you. Look up above that. Oh! Come on, Silver, come on. Get him up, go. Get him up, go. The cabin was buried under tons of earth and stone, only a moment after the masked man and Tonto had ridden away. The townspeople alarmed by the sound, and ran into the street. The rising cloud of dust in the distance told its own story. And the townspeople noticing the approach of the lone ranger and Tonto, with a woman across the masked man's saddle, grew back to give them room. It's a masked man. And that's a red skin with him. Ain't that Bob's wife there? Make way for him. Bob. Hi, Bob. Come here. Get moving. Move, move, move, move. What's going on? What happened? Who are you fellows? Hey, Miss Crimmins. And that slide comes close to your place. Here's Bob, Miss Crimmins. What's the matter? Oh, honey. What's the issue? Your wife had a narrow escape, Bob. Huh? A narrow escape? The fight got it. Everything we owned is gone. It's buried under all them rocks. Oh, now, May, May, you're all right. That's all it counts. You quit your crime. Well, if it hadn't been for these men, I'd have been killed. That's so strange. We heard the explosion and saw the slide start. We were close enough to get your wife from the cabin before it struck. And I thought there was outlaw and shot at him and he could have killed him. Don't blame yourself for that. You didn't know the slide. You did just what was natural. Stranger, words ain't much good, but for what they're worth, you got my thanks. I'm afraid your home is gone for good. I'm blessed in minus. Yeah, the slide might have hit the town. Yeah, they've got to be stopped. Next thing, somebody will be killed. We'll show them. One side, folks. One side. Hey, you there. Yes? I'm the sheriff here, mister. I'm putting you under arrest. What for? You're a mass crook. Like places you'll arrest this stranger, Sheriff. I don't care whether he's a crook or not. He just saved my wife's life. And the man that tries to jail him is going to have me to deal with. You heard me. Him and the Redskins got my wife clear of the cabin just before that slide struck. Now just lay a hand on him and see what happens to you. All right, Sheriff. Leave him be, Sheriff. You ought to be thanking him, not jailing him. I'm siding with Balton. So am I. That's all right, folks. I didn't write me sadly what had happened. Sorry, stranger. I reckon from the sound of it, you stand in pretty solid with the folks right now. Who's responsible for that blasting up there? Saul, you can tell you more about it tonight, Ken. Saul, you just was up there, weren't you? I was. What'd they say? I talked to the fella in charge, an umbra named Bull Scanlon. Uh-huh. And he, as much as said, we was to mind our own business. I said he'd do as he pleased, and we could whistle for all he cared. Bull Scanlon said that? He did. We ain't going to stand for it, are we? Boys, we ought to do something about it. Let's all go up there. We'll run them miners clear out of the country. Wait, man. We'll handle this leader. We'll do nothing of the kind. We'll handle this like we've handled trouble before. That's why I'm here. Who's willing to ride up the trail with me? Come on. We'll go along to teach them skunks a lesson. No, hold on. You can't pull it. Wait. Well, we've tried to be fair, and we've tried to handle this peaceful. Now the time for talk has passed, and we've got to act. No, sir, you're wrong. You can't do this. Men get guns, clubs, or anything else as handy. Saddle up and gather where the trail starts. We're settling this business right now. Come on. We ride. Come on, Silver. Get them up, Skunk. Silver! 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 townspeople aroused the slide that had destroyed a small cabin at the edge of town, decided to use force against the miners, the Lone Ranger and Tonto rode ahead. The trail was steep and difficult, and it was two hours later that Tonto approached Bull Scanlon, where he directed his men in... Get timbers in there, Rocky, and show up that entrance. I want that fixed up before he knock off for the night. Well, what do you want? Me want talking to you. You savvy mining? Want anything about blasting powder? Me not want them job. Huh? You come this way. Now look here, Red Skin. I ain't got no time for fooling. Take your business and clear out so they can work. You come. It not take long. Where to? Rock. Over there. Something there you want to show me, you say, huh? Well, lead on. But if you're just wasting my time, I'll boot you clean over the side of the hill. Me not wasting time. What's over there? You see him. It takes an engine to make nothing sound like something. I never seen a video, Red Skin. You walk him round rock. Yeah? I don't see... Like a sound bull and you'll regret it. Mast! Why that blasted Red Skin out? I don't act it on my orders. I wanted to talk with you, but not where your men could see me. What do you want with me? There's a mob from town on its way up the trail at this minute. Huh? Blasting powder you set off started a small slide that destroyed a cabin. Just luck that no one was killed. Townspeople have lost whatever patience with you they may have had. They're coming here to settle the score. Well, I'm calm. What do you think I hired guards for? I'll teach them fools a lesson that'll stay with them. They can't... You won't. You're in the wrong and you know it. Maybe there's no legal power that can force you to carry on your operations here with care. Nevertheless, you have no right to endanger lives. Who are you to give me a lecture? Never mind that. I'm telling you, your guards will not be called out. And just to let that mob do his at blame, please it, huh? Well, if you think I'm going... You're going to do exactly as I say. You'll go straight to blame. Because you have no choice. What do you mean? Grab him, Tunnel. Hey, wait! I'll hold him now, Tunnel. Take this gag tight. Me, Tunnel. Move the horses back to the bend in the trail. We're taking bull with us. Ready? There. Him, tight. Very good. Now give me a hand with him. I'll put him across silver. Where to take him? Down the trail, Tunnel. He's coming up. We'll meet it on the way. With bull's eye prisoner and we're getting him through one harm. In the meantime, the anger of the townspeople rose as they ascended the trail. Their leaders made no attempt to calm them and the men shouted their threats. We've had enough of them blasted miners. This is cattle country. They don't belong here. They're just here to take what coal there is. They ain't helping us none. We'll give them 24 hours to light out. Why that long? Tell them to start traveling now. If they won't, we'll just give them a docile lead. You shouldn't know to act so hasty. You're just going to get him back. Sir, if this don't concern you, you come along with your own choice. But don't try to get in our way. So you don't know better than to let the boys get out of hand like this? Yeah. Well, I feel the same as they do. I talked to that fellow running the mine. Talked to him man to man and reasonable. Well, he wouldn't listen. Threatened to shoot us up, but we didn't get off their property. We ain't hardly back to town with what was a bad slide. And if it hadn't been for the mask man and the engine, Bob's wife would have been killed. There's a limit, Sheriff, and we've reached it. Sheriff, I can see you're side of it. Fact is, if I wasn't wearing this badge, I'd likely be doing the same as you. Yeah. But just the same, I've got advice against you. Hey, look up ahead. Ain't that the mask man? Looks like the white horse he rides. It is. Ain't no mistake in that horse. There's the engine. But who's with him? We'll be able to see in a second. Why, Sunder? What is it? That fellow riding double on the mask man's horse. Ain't that... Bull scandal. Boys, that's Bull scandal with the mask man. He's gagged. You can see it from here. What's the meaning, boys? Pull up. Keep her, boys. Ain't much room on this trail. Get your horses in hand. Now, you see what the mask man's done? He rode ahead. Gotts can run and saved us the trouble. We'll take Bull off the mask fellow's hand. Hey, there, we'll take that. I'll bring him. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Bye, gravy. You two fellas got Bull all by yourself. And we're keeping him. This man's our prisoner. If you want him, you'll have to fight for him. Bob, you're going back to town with us. What's up? We'll see you later. All right, men, stand clear. Hey, what's the idea? Turn back to town and you'll find out. But you can't. Hey, Bob. I'm with you. Let's go, tunnel. Get him up. Get him up, fellas. Get along, boys. Come on, Silver. Wait, hold on. Looks like that mask man don't wait for nobody. He's up to something by his thunder. Maybe I should have jailed him after all. After what he done? You're crazy. Now what do we do? I don't know what you others figure out, but I'm heading back to see what the mask man's up to. All right, then. Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up. Reaching the bottom of the trail, a prisoner over to Tonto, who rode on to their secret camp. Then with Bob, the mask man approached the edge of town where he gave the young man certain orders. Bob entered town alone, but gone for a little more than half an hour, then rejoined the mask man, meeting a pack horse. Here's all the stuff you told me to get, friend. Ooh, there. Ooh. Funny a blasting powder. Sure thing. Use. I never forgot that. You told your wife you'd be gone over that. Mm-hmm. Ha, ha, ha. Stranger, you sure made a hit with her. This is the first time I ever said I was gonna stay away overnight without her racing the roof. Ha, ha, ha. She's got the notion anything you say to do is bound to be all right. I'll not be with you. Huh? You won't. But what do you want me to do? Stake out a claim. A claim? I don't serve you. That's why I told you to get these supplies. You're going to stake out a claim just as though you were a prospector. Now, look here, stranger. I'm willing to do whatever you say. I owe you plenty, but you sure ain't got no idea I can just ride up that hill and find a vein of ore, have you? No. Then what is it? Your claim is going to be staked out legally, however. It won't be your fault if the claim doesn't happen to contain ore. I'll be blessed if I can see what you're driving, eh? The trail leading to the mine continues on till it reaches the top of the hill. I don't want you to go that high. About a hundred yards above the mine will be sufficient. Yeah? Directly above the mine, understand? As far as you've gone, but I still don't savvy why I'm staking the claim. Oh, wait. Huh? Here come the townsmen back. There's no time to explain further now. I want you on your way before they can question you. Get going. Well, listen... Get going, I say. I'll send Tondo to find you and tell you the rest. Tondo? Right. He'll find you now on your way. Get up! Get along there! One moment! Man, you started to the mine this afternoon looking for trouble. There could easily have been bloodshed if you'd reached it. And there will be yet. Do as I say, and I promise you, there won't. What do you mean? Wouldn't you rather settle this trouble peacefully? That mine is a right to be developed. Your only possible objection is that the mine endangers the town. Well... Drive the miners away, and they'll be back with the law to enforce their rights. But come to an agreement with them, and your troubles are over. We tried that. They wouldn't have it. So? Well... A bull-scandal will sign an agreement promising to follow the precautions you suggest, and to admit responsibility for any damage to the town that may be done. Will you forget your quarrel with them? That'd be fair enough, I guess, but he won't do it. Be at the mine tomorrow at 10 in the morning. You have my word, you'll get that agreement signed and delivered. Come on, silver! Come on! The following morning, everyone who had heard of the Lone Ranger's promise made the long trip up the hill to see the manner in which it would be kept. The miners themselves, puzzled by the absence of Bull Scanlan, had dropped their word. And stood about in curious, uncertain groups, watching the arrival of the town's people, was suspicion. One group was made up of Pete Winthrop, Bull Scanlan's second-in-command, Saul Grayson and the sheriff. You say a masked man took Bull? Just so. If any harm's come to him, you'll have to... No need to worry, I reckon. If the masked comrade had been up to anything like that, he'd probably have turned Scanlan over to the boys from town that was hot to catch him yesterday. Sheriff, I want you fellas to understand me. Yeah? I've been again the way Bull's been running things. But as long as he's given the orders, there ain't been much I could say. We can see that. And as for Bull, well, I reckon you ain't understood him so good neither. Don't stand up for him. Well, now, Mr. Grayson, I am and I ain't. What I mean is, Bull was in the wrong. No arguing about that. He was an awful feller to get his mind sought a certain way and keep it there. That's how he got his nickname, being surprised when Bull had it. He's that for a fact. But on the other hand, you always knew where you stood with Bull and what he planned to do. He'd never lie about anything. He'd fight you and he'd cuss you and he'd never give nobody but himself credit for having sense. And yet I never heard of him being crooked or sneaky or underhanded. That's all very well, but just the same, I'm Bull. Bull, here comes the masked man now. And he's got Bull with him. And it's 10 o'clock to the second. Now maybe we'll learn what this is all about. Oh, Bull's on the top one. Oh, there, Bull. Get down. Pete, get the boys. Get Jake. Grab this masked fellow. I'll show the scum what I mean. Not so fast. Your mother outnumbered. They try anything. Now they're beaten. No, you think we're scared? Why, we'll... You'll do nothing, Sheriff. Watch the men. See that trouble doesn't break out. There won't. Hear that, fellas? No ruckus. I ain't standin' for it. We're here to see what the stranger's got to be sleeved. Until we find out, things are going to be prom peaceful. All right, sir. They'll behave, stranger. Bull, I promise these people, you'd sign an agreement to follow their suggestions and be responsible for whatever damage your blasting may cause. Then you're better off more than you can chew. I won't sign no such thing. You told me you wouldn't agree because you wanted to make a profit for your employers. You heard right. You mean to say that a property as rich as this couldn't afford the safeguards the townspeople ask? That ain't a question. I'm here to make all the profit I can. And what would your employers say if you made no profit at all? If you couldn't even keep the mine open? The blasting powder you set off has already started one landslide. Well, the town isn't alone in danger. And I'll prove it to you. Tell Bob to set off the charge. What are them fellas doin' up there? Bob has saked out a claim directly over your mine. It's legal and you can't prevent his working it. Oh, wait. There. He can't do that. If he sets off the powder up there, he's likely to start a slide that'll bury his mine. Which is exactly what you've been doing. But there ain't no gold there. They can't be... How do you know? He's got the right to blast to see if his claim contains gold or not, hasn't he? Why, the dirty blasting... Bull, now you're no better off than these townspeople. They can't stop your blasting, but neither can you prevent Bob from doing the same. Which is it going to be? Are you going to meet the townspeople's demands? Or are you going to take the risk that a blast overhead will bury your mine and throw you and these men out of work? My darling Bull, the masked man's got you dead to right. It's just a dose of your own medicine. Why in blazes didn't we think of that? Well, Bull... Well, I... I don't know. Don't be afraid to admit it when you're beaten. There's no way to get out of this, except by a friendly compromise. Bull, don't be such a dog-gone stubborn idiot. It just ain't got no choice. I'd like to ring the masked man's neck. Which saying wouldn't do you much good? Well, I'm licked in it for mines to keep open. I'll have to give in. Grayson, what's your turn? The masked man named him. Then put him in writing and I'll sign. But I'll tell you this. It wasn't you fellas that made me. It was that hombre there. Oh, still! You have just heard of the copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.