 A fiery horse for the speed of light, the cloud of dust, and a hearty high-o silver, the full ranger. During the years of unrest that followed the Civil War, a powerful secret organization called the Legion of the Black Arrow sprang up in the western United States. Its members were to be found everywhere, defying the law or using the law for their own purposes, working toward the ultimate goal of revolt and the foundation of a despotic empire. It was the masked rider of the planes who led the fight against this band of outlaws and traitors, and for once his great strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness were taxed to the utmost in the cause of democracy. Return with us now to those thrilling days when the West was young. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver, the lone ranger rides again. Far from their fort, a small band of army hunters were ambushed by one of the most notorious gangs in the West, the Breed Latham Gang. From the scant protection afforded by their horses, the soldiers fought bravely against the heavy odds. There was not one of them who wasn't wounded, yet they fought on, fought the outlaws who were sheltered by protecting rocks and boulders. Right to the end boys, there's no chance for any of us to survive, but take as many of those cooks as you can. They're firing at me too, the dirty double-crossers. Why should we fire at you, Mike? I didn't mean that, Captain. You're our guide. You led us here. You knew about this death trap, didn't you? Like all of me. You're one of Breed Latham's men. What is that, Captain? Did you say our guide was hired by Latham? They're shooting me along the rest of you. Latham, you want to eat double-cross and double-dead and how? They got him. Serve them right. Keep at him, boys. They're just little jig plummet. Hey, Breed. He was one of her own men. He done his job. Now, come on, get the rest of them. We're wasting too much time on this here job. There ain't been no firing from the soldiers for the past few minutes. Hold your fire. I reckon we got the last. Better make sure. Hank, stick your head out and see if anyone takes a shot at him. Right. Sure, we'll be mighty fancy when we get those soldier uniforms, Breed. We'll have things our own way around here. There ain't been no shots fired at my hat, Breed. All right, then. Boys, half of us will stay here and watch. The rest will go forward and make sure there ain't no survivors. Then we'll take the rest of them out of here. All right, then. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. The rest of them will go forward and make sure there ain't no survivors. Then we'll take the army uniforms we need. While Breed Latham remained behind, other members of the gang inspected the fallen soldiers. They made sure there were no survivors of the battle. Then the outlaws gave the signal and laid them and the rest of the gang moved up to join them. Get rid of the horses it's wounded and take the ones it ain't. The one to wipe out all traces of this fight. The rest of you get them uniforms. From now on, we're going to look like soldiers. Then you'll take the captain's clothes and read. That's right. I'll be the captain. I don't know how far ahead they are, Totto, but we should overtake the troopers before sundown. You sure of what you hear? But Breed Latham? Uh-huh. I wouldn't doubt it. Breed Latham has enlisted a mighty strong band of outlaws. He has at least 30 men riding with him. What him want? Of course, the main thing, he wants his power. He feels the best way to get that power is to get an army ready to take orders from him. Well, how him get an army? Oh, I don't mean an army, like our own. I mean a band of men who are trained in gunplay to carry out his plans. Well, as soon as we overtake Captain Conway, we'll pass the word that Latham is in this part of the country. He can be on the watch for him. Who gave Breed Latham order? I don't know, that's one thing I'd like to find out. Breed Latham has never been more than a petty sneak thief and a prowler. He's never been able to make big plans until the past few months. I'm sure there's someone higher up who's doing his thinking for him. That's the man I'd like to get. Maybe your army help us get him. Hello, did you hear that? That army, Beagle. We're near Conway now. Come on, Silver. Oh, he's a Breed. I thought I'd forgot how to blow, Beagle. That's all right. Maybe it'll come in handy for you to handle a blown horn like this. How's this uniform look on me? The first read. Fit your language made for you. Yeah, you button them buttons, Hank. Oh, no. I don't wear these suits like we were soldiers. Can't take no chances. And remember all of your voice. Call me Captain now and show respect to him. Oh, sure. Seems funny to see you in an army outfit, Breed. I said call me Captain. All right, all right. There ain't no one here we should perform for. Get used to calling it. All right, Captain. Now that we've got these outfits, there are no survivors of our ambush. Figure the next move. Just what is the next move, Breed? Getting a supply of cash. Things are ordered. Maybe you're told where to go for that cash. Easy. Where to serve is the guards on a gold shipment. Army pay that's coming through. Oh, that's different. Won't there be regular guards out, Breed? I mean, Captain. Yeah, Captain, what about the regular guards? They ain't none. Oh. You sure of that, boss? I got instructions. All we gotta do is tell the men on the train that we're assigned a guard through the bad country, just in case someone tries to stick it up. Are uniforms will help a lot? Sure they will. We didn't have these uniforms and we hadn't finished off those soldiers. We might have a little argument on our hands. But now we just get aboard the train and take off that gold when it's convenient. Hey, boys, there's a couple of riders shooting this way. Yeah. Yeah, let me do the talking. What's your rich keen? Hey, the other's wearing a mask. Don't tell me that. Breed, you think the same as I am? I wonder if that ain't the critter that's been making so much trouble for us. Lord Ranger. We'll find out. And if it is... Hi there. I'm looking for Captain Conway. Well, what did you want of me? You're the captain. You can see my uniform. What's that mess mean? Who are you? Captain, I came to warn you. Breed Latham is in the vicinity and looking for you. Breed Latham? Yes. What's he look like? I've never seen him, but he's the leader of a pretty strong gang of outlaws. He and his men are going to try to ambush you. Oh, they are, huh? Well, thanks for telling me. We'll be ready for him. Now, you explain that they're masks. Who are you? That's not important. Oh, no, Tate. It's mighty important. All your guns on them, boys. You're not a stranger. Take off that mask. Captain Conway, I simply came to warn you not to answer questions. I think you'll know who I am. Who is Bullets in his belt? It's you, boys. Oh, you're called the Lone Ranger, huh? I am. Well, now that's really lucky because I was just wishing for the help of the Lone Ranger. How's that? Well, we've got a job assigned to us, guarding a shipment of gold that's to pay the soldiers out here in the West. Oh? Can we count on your help? There's anything I can do. Of course I'll help. There's a plenty you can do. You just call in with my men and we'll start for the railroad right now. Very well. Pardon? Yes, sir. Right next to the Lone Ranger. Wilson, take charge of the engine. Hank, you're right with me. Mount up. Let's get started. After several hours of riding, the men in uniform held the same formation with Breedlatham and Hank riding side by side. Hank, the Lone Ranger in town don't suspect a thing. This is going to be easy. Hey, what do you think, old? Don't seem positive we could take the part of troopers and not have them suspect something. We don't know nothing about the way Army does things. It's just it. The Army out here ain't got no regular way of doing things. Each detached from the Lone Ranger is the only one in the Lone Ranger. You know, the Lone Ranger needs to detach and run things its own way. It ain't formal like in the East. The officers are men and more friendly here. Maybe so. We'll be at the railroad in short order now. You ain't made no mistake about the gold being on the train, have you? The gold will be there all right. Right in the baggage car. She's hoping anyhow. Hear that? Choo-choo. That's right. She's here. The thing we didn't waste time. At the train, you'll meet Captain. That's it. I'll tell you what I want you to do now. I've been wondering. I don't see why you need help in guarding that train. Got a lot of men with you. Well, you see the point's this. We got information that the Latham gang's gonna try and steal that gold. Where did you get that information? We got it. It's a secret wherefrom. Oh, I see. It don't matter anyhow. What matters is that we want to take every precaution. I want part of my men to ride ahead of the train and do some scouting. I want them to make sure there ain't been no logs put on the track or something like that to wreck the train. I will still leave you men to ride with the gold. Maybe so, but not men like you. I want you to ride in the baggage car. You and the engine can take your horses in there with you. Very well. Yeah, that's risking it. No telling how Breed Latham will make his play to get that gold. We'll take whatever risk there is. Good, good. I know I could count on you. Where would you and the other men be? We'll ride right alongside the train. Can you keep up with us? I'll tell the engineer to go slow. Better be slow and sure than hurry and lose the soldier's pay, huh? Yes. It's better to be sure. Spur up a bit, boys. We want to get to the station when the train does. I got it all fixed with the engineer. You drive this chuchu real slow so the men on a horseback can keep up with it. But Breed Latham... What I tell you about calling me Breed... I mean Cabin. What? I still don't say everywhere you went at the low ranger with us. He's out to get our gang if you know who he was. I sooner have him here where we can watch him than not know where he's at. This way before we're done we'll have both the lone ranger in town a lot of a way for keeps. Then we can collect the cash that's been offered for his scale. His scale? A figure of speech. You know he's likely to learn all about the headman of our outfit someday. That's why he's wanted out of the way. You figured to kill him? I don't know of no better way to get rid of him. Would you have him inside the car, the baggage car where the ghoul is? You'll be there with him. You and Vince Williams and a couple others. For what? When you hear the train stop and that red rock just fire. Shoot him, you mean? Antono. Just shoot him down dead? Of course. Then the boys outside will do for the engineer too. Then what? Take the gold and clear out. The train's left where it is. Most of the boys light out with us going to Hayden. A handful of the others will ride on to town and tell them have an affairs battle here and the gold being stolen. I better show a few wounds just to make it look right. They'll be bandaged. They got their orders. With them that right on ahead what about them? They'll wait at red rock force and make sure there ain't no one in the way to see that there's really no fight. Captain, train's about ready to start. Have your men been given orders? Yep. You can get that horse on board now, partner. Now, where's Antono? At the side of the car, waiting. Good enough. Get on board and a couple of my men will be along to join you. All right. Come on, silver. All right, Hank. Get Williams now. In just open fire. Whenever you get a good chance take no risks. That masked man's mighty fast with a gun. Well, Lude, read that masked man his fired his last shot. 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. The Lone Ranger and Tonto were in the baggage car with the men in uniform, outlaws in disguise. More of the murderous members of the Lawless Band rode alongside the train while others had already gone on ahead. Breen Latham was confident smiling at the perfection of his scheme. After several miles he turned to the man of his side. Do you hear something there? It sounded like a couple of shots from inside the car. Yeah, that's what I thought it was. Two shots. No more, no less. Do you figure Hank has done his trick? Hank convinced on my things. I'll make sure, though. Looks like the door of that baggage car is being opened. It sure is. Hank, read. Everything all right in there, Hank? Hear the shots? Yeah. Hank, go ahead with your plan. Good. We'll take the stuff we want off the train when we get to Red Rock. Right. I'll shut the door now. Evening's gone right along according to plan. Two pages to make the plans right. Read. It don't seem possible that the Lone Ranger has really been done for. Well, you heard what the Hank said. It's a big advantage to get the man off his guard. That's how we got the Lone Ranger. Oh, God. Think of it. We got the Lone Ranger. The train stopped at Red Rock. Horsemen raced to the cab of the engine and a volley of shots rang out. The baggage car door was opened. All right, Hank. Hand out them sacks of money. Here you are, Bree. And call me Captain. Here's another sack. All right, boys. Bring that ramp over here. All right. What about them horses? Here, take the bridle of mine and bridge it. We'll fetch the wife of Pindall. All right. Bring him out now. We can use him. Come on there. What's the matter with you? Here, let me take the bridle. Call that one Silver, didn't he? Come on, Silver. We're going to take you to a new master. Look out! Where the dog gone fighting wild galoot, he must crack my head with those horses. Hey, if I can crit a breed, better if we let him come here with a lone ranger and talk to him. Yeah, maybe so. Take him with us and he will be seen and be dangerous. It might pass into this room. It might at that, Hank. I'm going to take a look at that lone ranger. Surely he's sprawled out pretty soon. Let him alone. The more they go into that car, the more chance there is to leave him closed. Let's get out of these parts. Leave the horses of them two on the floor. Come on, boys. Mount up and clear out. Hey, Bree. Maybe it'd be best if you went to the next town to report it. You've got the Captain's uniform. Yeah, I think so. I'll take charge with bandages and go into town. I'll tell the sheriff about the fierce fight when we went through. We'll go to the hideout and wait there for you. You bet it. And don't you get any ideas of trying to make up with that cage? Of course I do. Because if you do, well, you know what would happen then. I know. This ain't our cage. It belongs to the black arrow. Right. Be sure you tell the sheriff a good story. You leave it to me. Breed Layton told his story smoothly. The sheriff listened attentively, nodding from time to time. When we saw that there wasn't a chance of beating that pack of thieves off, Sheriff, we figured the best thing to do was get away. I see. Go on, Captain. Someone had to be left alive so that crooks could be identified. Sure. All of our men got a few wounds. You can see my bandages. They're serious? No, but I ain't told you the worst of it. The worst? On that train inside the baggage car. There was a couple of special guards. Well, one of them was masked. The other was a red skin. Masked? And garden army pay? Well, yes. He's known as the Lone Ranger. What's that? That's right, Sheriff. The Lone Ranger and Tano. And they were both shot by the thieves. Hold on, Captain. Get your chair. Never mind the chair. Do you mean to stand there and tell me the Lone Ranger was a guard on that train and the thieves got away with the gold in spite of him? He couldn't do a thing, Sheriff. He's done for it. You mean to say that he... No, I can't believe it. It's right, though. You'll find his remains where he fell inside the baggage car. The Lone Ranger. That sure is a mighty hard blow to the West, to the country, to everyone. That's the way I felt about it. If you come back with us, we'll show you where the fight took place and help you trail the crooks. I'll be right with you. Good. Get me extra guns and I'll bear my best horse. Then I'll be ready. We'll run down these murdering polecats. It was the last thing we do. There's the trains. Just hand them tracks. Don't see any dead men sprawled around. I told you, didn't I? The scene of the fight was hopeless. We beat a retreat. Yeah. There's the baggage car. The door's open. Oh, so I see. That's where the Lone Ranger and Tonto was, huh? Yep. The ground here is too hard to show hoof marks. It'll be real hard to trail these critters. That's why I thought it better come for you and help you. I'm about the best there is in the army when it comes to following the trail. Can you find any trail around here? Sure can. Then critters come from over that way. They went back the same way. Maybe we should have brought some deputies. Next of us can handle them if we get them by surprise. I'm right anxious to get after them. But say, Captain. Huh? Didn't you and these four put up any fight at all? Sure we did. You all got wounds, but didn't you damage the other some? Sure. Well, I don't see any of them left behind here. I reckon the dead was carred off by the goodies. Oh, well, let's get started. What's that? That comes to the baggage car. A horse. Oh, yeah. The Lone Ranger's horse stayed there. So Tonto... I most forgot. I better have a look just in case they're completely dead. Look at that. There he is. That's him riding. What the... How did... It's the Lone Ranger. And Tonto. Ghosts. He must be. Hello, Sheriff. You ain't dead at all. Oh, promise me. Not an hour going to help you and the Captain track down the thieves. You're still alive. You're still with us. You... I'll be so surprised, Captain Conway, and tell your men that we're not ghosts. Which way did you say those outlaws went? That way. You're mistaken. But I... You saw them riding away. Care if you and the Captain start riding toward that woods? Tonto and I need the help of these four soldiers inside the baggage car for a few minutes. Doing what? I'll help you. No, I don't want you and Conway to help. I want those four men. Now, now, hold on. Why do we have to go in there? A little unfinished business. What's he here? My wounds. I don't think your wounds will hinder you. Come on. Or don't you want to help me? Wait a minute. What's the matter with you? Will you tell your men to help, Captain? Or, uh... Well, go on. If I had read it, there's something funny about this. You... you better go in the long range. The four of us, eh? Yeah. Go on in. Leave your horses here. Yeah. Sheriff, you can start ahead with the Captain. I'll overtake you. Come on, Captain. Get up there. Get up. Now, Tonto, let's go inside. Now, no, see here. How come you're still alive? Save your breath. You'll need it shortly. There are four of you here, and we all know that you have no wounds. But why do you want to... You don't wonder why Tonto and I are still alive. We'll give you something about while you're waiting for the Sheriff to come back and take you. There won't be much else you can do except think and wonder because you're going to be tied and tight. What's the idea? I'll talk. You just listen. I couldn't save the life of the engineer and fireman of this train. I'm sorry for that. There have been a lot of times in the past when I felt dissatisfied in handing members of your Black Arrow Legion over to the law. I felt that I wanted to administer a little punishment myself. So has Tonto. You don't mean you... There are more of you and just two of us. I'm not going to draw my guns and you're not going to get the chance to draw yours. We're going to hug-tie you but first we're going to give you a thrashing you'll remember until you hang. And here's the starting! Oh! Tonto! The lone Ranger and Tonto swung into action. They ducked, dodged, and parried fighting with a coolness of men who were determined to meet out well-deserved punishment. The outlaw's not used to fighting with fists swung wildly, moved plumsily and slowly. One after another they sprawled in the floor, got up, went down again. They had no chance to draw their guns. The lone Ranger and Tonto were everywhere. Then when the battle was over and the outlaws were tied hand and foot, the masked man turned to Tonto. Tonto, perhaps I shouldn't have done that. Perhaps we should simply have roped them. That's plenty good. Tonto, like good fight. Come on, Tonto. We've got to join this sheriff now. Get him up, scoundrel! We're having much further to go, sheriff. The camp is just ahead. I don't see how you're following any trail. We're not. If you ain't following no trail, how do you know where you're going? I'll tell you. Hank told me where the hideout is. Hank? Yes, Hank. He and Vince Williams were on the baggage car to kill Tonto and me. What's that you say? That's the truth of it, sheriff. That's why this man who wears the army uniform thought we were dead. He ordered two of his men to kill us. That ain't true. Just as true as the fact that you are not Captain Conway. Sheriff, this man is the one who led the gang of train robbers. He's the one who led the attack on Captain Conway's troopers and wiped them out. He's the one who is the leader of the unit of the Black Arrow. What? All right, if you know so much, if you're so smart don't forget Tonto on the other side with plenty of hard-faced death. He had knocked him out cold. Hang on to him while I ease him off the saddle. And this easier way to get him to ground. Let him. Now you can see the sign of the Black Arrow on his wrist. Glory be. The other four are tied, waiting to be taken into custody in the baggage car. And I'll put handcuffs on this one till we come back. You wonder why Hank and Vince Williams didn't shoot a sheriff? And I'll tell you why. They didn't understand just what the Black Arrow stood for. And I started talking to them about it, explaining just how the purpose of this whole Black Arrow legion was to further the interest of a few selfish men in Washington and a plot to overthrow the government of the United States when the citizens had been properly terrorized. Well, Hank's eyes grew wide and he believed me. He told me about the scheme, the murder of the troopers, and the location of the hideout. And there's a lot of stolen cash and goods. And he said, you won't need more than one sheriff to capture the gang neither. Me and Vince tell the truth about the Black Arrow. At least half of them will be with us. Yes, you come and get us. Sure, we all had a part in the murder of the soldiers. We was misled. We was lied to. We thought we was acting for the good of the country. You just come and take us. I'll take my chance on a jury. And I'll tell the plenty about the critters in Washington have lied to us, the real leaders of the Black Arrow. Well, that's what Hank said, Sheriff, and I believe him. Now let's ride in and smash this gang. I'm with you. Lead the way, Lone Ranger. Get up. Get up there. The roundup of the gang was completed in short order. Then, when the Lone Ranger and Tonto had settled in their new camp, an animal was heard nearby. Tonto grasped his rifle and... Wait, don't shoot that, Tonto. Look at that animal. That's no wolf. It's a dog. Here, boy. A good dog, too. What's the matter, fella? What is it? Hello. He wants us to follow him. He's trying to tell us something. Come on, we'll find out what it is. The story you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.