 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, Tutto, the daring and resourceful mask 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. Come out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse silver. The Lone Ranger rides again! Cascade in Northern had just been completed, and Hunter's Bend was its northern terminus. And Jonathan Blair, divisional superintendent of the new railroad, was celebrating a little more than most. Yes, sir! People said we couldn't do it. Said the Cascade in Northern couldn't be built, but we showed them. We filled her. She's here to stay. Suddenly a tall, lean figure came stalking toward the group addressed by Blair, and the men fell silent. And even Jonathan Blair, flushed with triumph, eyed the approaching figure nervously. Oh, hello Kirk. Glad to see you with us, sir. Of course I am, Kirk. Let bygones be bygones, I always say. So if you're here to extend the hand of friendship... End of friendship, yes. I fought you a railroad every inch of the way, and I'm not through fighting yet. I extend no hand of friendship to such as you are. Well, I'm sorry to hear you say that, Kirk. But of course, if that's the way you feel. It is! You're no more sorry about it than I am. Besides, that's not why I came here. I didn't come to tell you how I felt you already knew that. I came here to warn you. I've been hearing my voices again. Oh, of course. Smile if you wish. But you do so at your own peril. They always tell me the truth. Do they, Kirk? What do they tell you this time? That your railroad will bring to this territory only death and destruction. You've always said that, Kirk. And I say it again. You've brought the steam engine here. You call it the iron horse. I tell you, that you will soon have a better name for it. Will we? And what's that? The iron horse. The people of Hunter's Bend had always been disposed to smile at Kirk Masters and his talk of voices. But on this occasion, they took him more seriously than usual. Tata would have been on hand to hear Kirk's strange announcement. The Indian hurried to a secret camp near town and reported it to the Lone Ranger. Tata, you're sure Kirk Masters said that. You've hurt him yourself. Ah, me hear him. Then he comes straight here. Evidently impressed you. You believe in Kirk's voices, too? Me think plenty trouble comes. If there is any trouble, Kirk is likely to make it. It's odd that he'd give warning ahead of time. That right. Kirk hates the railroad. I can understand how he feels. After all, he spent years building up his stage and fretting line. Now the railroad will take most of his business away from him, one blow. But the railroad's in and it's too late to fight it. The railroad means progress. Kirk should forget his bitterness and adapt himself to the new ways. He'll not forget. No, he won't forget. Tata, we'd better move our camp. Where we go? We'll move closer to Kirk's place. I'd like to keep an eye on him. Belongreen Jurem Tato found another camp and kept an eye on Kirkmasters. But days went by and there was nothing to mar the efficient service of the railroad. During this time, Kirk and Jonathan Blair seldom met. But one evening in the dispatcher's office... Wow, look who's here. I didn't think you'd ever get this close to a railroad, Kirk. Thought you'd be afraid to invite you. Oh, hello, Lim. Well, take all he wants to send. We're here to give service no matter who was it. Always glad to be of help, Kirk. Yes, I imagine you are. That's one of the things I don't like about you. I trust you haven't forgotten the warning I gave you. I wanted to mention that. This is one time your voice has misled you, isn't it? Haven't had one single accident since we opened for business. You congratulate yourself too soon. Trouble is closer than you think. Your voice is again? My voice is again. Well, next time you hear from them, you'd better give them a talking to. They don't seem to be so very well-informed. Oh, wait! Not leaving us, are you? I won't stay to be further, Blair. I bid you good evening. He's a kind, Lim. Him and his voices. You'd better be careful. One of these days, they'll be locking him up. Just a second, Mr. Blair. What? There's a message coming through. Something important to them? Yeah. Well, I'm with it, man. What is it? Number four was caught in a rock slide. The whole thing's been smashed. The kingdom come. And this was only the first blow. What's happening again, Mr. Blair? Yards caught fire. We full towns out fighting the blaze. They say 60 cars have been burned up. Freaks smashed up other side of Iron Mountain. Somebody fooled with a switch. Mr. Blair, somebody blasted the stock train. Most of the stock and ten people killed. Ten people killed. The church behind this. He's not coming so much. Let's go get him. Let's make him answer some questions. The mounting toll of death and destruction finally roused the railroad men upon who spent a fighting fury. They gathered in the yards outside the station to shout their demands for action. Man, wait. Quiet down. Listen to me. Shut up, you fellows. Let the boss say something. Now then, men, I've been listening to you and I know exactly how you feel. You've had friends killed or injured. This keeps up. You may be next. And it's certain, of course, that these have not been accidents. Not in the real sense of the word, that is. It's certain that someone has been responsible. But that doesn't mean Kurt Masters is to blame. Or does it mean that we have a right to take justice into our own hands? And what does it mean? Does it mean we're just a stand-vital something that happens sometimes? If we don't do something who will, I don't see the law around here trying to do anything. The law is doing all it can. But the law can't proceed without evidence. What do you mean, evidence? Didn't Kurt say we'd be calling our engines iron horses? Didn't he tell you there'd be trouble? That's right. I heard it myself. If he's innocent, how come he knows so much? Listen to me, listen. I haven't said Kurt was innocent. I've only said we have no proof that he's guilty. How much proof do you want? I think he's going to give you an invite next time he wrecked one of our trains. Man, listen, wait. Well, we're not waiting for any invites. We're calling on Kurt right now. Let's go. Let's get in on down there. Let's see what the coyote has to say. Wait, wait. One moment. I demand that you listen to me. Wait, man. All right, all right. Speak your piece, Mr. Blair. But make it fast. We've got places to go and work for you. Well, will it be all right if I speak to Kurt? It will be if we're along to hear his answers. If I let you come along, you'll promise there'll be no violence. You'll promise, will you? Well, I can only trust you'll be sensible. We'll call on Kurt now. Tuttle had been in the crowd. As soon as the mob began to move from the railroad yards in the direction of Kirkmasters' home at the far end of town, he mounted Scout and speedily rejoined the lone rangers. Hold, Scout. Hold, fellow. Hold, fellow. What is it? Hold, fellow. There's plenty trouble. I thought so. I started saddling Silver when I saw you coming on railroad trailers calling Kirkmasters. Them heap mad. Maybe lynch them. I was afraid things might come to this. Does Blair know about it? Has he tried to hold them back? Uh, him try, but men not listen. Is Kirk in town? Uh, him home. Let me see him. Then we better act fast, Tuttle. Then he's over. Me ready? Easy, big fella. One, two, let's go. The lone ranger and Tuttle had farther to go than the railroad men, and the latter arrived at Kirkmasters' home ahead of them. Wait right here. You'll promise I could talk to him. Kirk, open up. It's Blair. I want to talk to you. Come on. Open up, Kirk. We know you're home. Open up, or there may be trouble. Yes. What kind of trouble? Listen, Kirk. There he is. There's the cutie, Kirk. Look at him. Where'd he get the nerves that face him? Quiet! Quiet! You promised to let me handle this. Now quiet, all of you. Then drop to this gunk and make it fast. What's this all about, Blair? I'm sorry, Kirk. I didn't want this to happen, but I'm afraid at this time you're in real trouble. We've been having accidents on the Cascade in northern. Too many accidents. Property has been destroyed and men have been killed. Men who are friends of these men. Now, we're not here to accuse you of these accidents, Kirk, but, well, we do think we have a right to an explanation. You seem to know these accidents would take place. How did you know? I told you that. If you refuse to believe me, that's your concern. You're not still going to insist that your so-called voice has told you, are you? Yes. Yes. That voice has told me. Don't listen, all of you! Kirk, Kirk, I'm warning you. Unless you give me an honest answer, I can't control these men. I've tried to protect you. I've made them promise to let me do the talking. They'll talk to you in quite a different way. But if you don't appreciate... I don't appreciate your interference. This is all you had to say to me, I had bid you good-bye. I don't. Come on, men. He's trying to get away. Men, stay back. One side, Blair. I've got Kirk, fellas. Bring him off the board. Bring him along! Do you know what to do with us, Kirk? Let me go! Take your hands off him! Let him go! Let go of that man. It's a mass, man. He's got two guns. Don't let anyone move. The first man who makes a move is asking for trouble. What are you doing at Kirk's house? I came to the back door. Come here, Kirk. This way. Back into the house. Thank you, stranger. You will pay for this, you scoundrels. You'll pay for it, every one of you! Keep fighting. Keep still. Don't you men try to follow? They're gone. They're in the house. Come on. They can't get away with this. After them, break the door down. Wait. There they go. They've got horses. They went out the back way. There's an Indian with them. They got away. Find horses. Follows will get after them. No, no. It won't do any good, men. Why not? You'll never catch them. That masked man is the lone ranger. The lone ranger? Yes. And it looks as though he's thrown in his lot with a killer. 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 to continue our story. The newly completed short-line railroad, the Cascade in Northern, had suffered a series of costly disasters. The angry employees of the railroad blamed lean, cadaverous Kirkmasters for these disasters. Blamed Kirk, because he had not only fought the railroad while building, but had forecast the disasters before they occurred. Their anger threatened violence, and Kirk escaped only through the resolute and daring action of the lone ranger. But the masked man himself was not convinced of Kirk's innocence, and a little later in the lone ranger's camp. Keep watch, Tutto. We may have been followed. Ah. You what? Ellen Kirk, I don't want you to misunderstand me. I didn't take you from that mob because I believed you innocent. I did it so they wouldn't be tempted to act outside the law. You're the man they call the lone ranger, aren't you? Yes. I thought so. There was pretty sure I knew why you acted as you did. Whatever your motives, I'm grateful. Well, I'm glad you are. But that's beside the point. Actually, there's plenty of reason why you should have been suspected. In the first place, you've been the enemy of the railroad ever since it was started. And why shouldn't I have been? I used to own two dozen stages and over a hundred freighters and kept them all busy. Now I can find business for a third of them. But you knew the railroad had to come. Not without me fighting it. Play your cards right, and you may end up more prosperous than you ever were. This whole territory will benefit in time, you will too. Maybe. But I'm not convinced. Well, at any rate, there's nothing you can do about it. Or rather, nothing you should do. If you're hitting that I was behind those accidents, mister, I'm denying it, you see. Then how did you know that it occurred? I'll see it once more for the last time. My voices told me. Voices? Call them hunches, anything you want. I don't care. It's something inside me. They tell me things. I know they're true. And they always happen. You're asking me to believe a lot? No, I'm not asking you to believe anything. I'm not sure that I don't believe you. No? No. In this place, I'm not as ready to discount hunches as some people may be. I've seen too many strange things along those lines, especially among the Indians. And in the second place? Yes. Well, I'll be frank with you. Todd and I have been watching you. Oh, not 24 hours a day, of course. But enough to make it unlikely for you to have contrived all those accidents without our catching you at least once. I see. But ordinarily, I might resent being spied on, stranger. But this is different. If it's kept you from being as sure as the others at the time guilty, then I'm glad you did. What I think doesn't matter. But if there's a chance you're innocent, we'll try to clear you. How? By catching the man who's guilty. 24 hours went by. Then back in Hunter's Bend, Lem Oaks, the train dispatcher, had important news for the divisional superintendent. Mr. Blair, Mr. Blair got a message for you. Yes? What is it, Lem? This just came through from the dispatch in Cascade. Well, let me see it. Well, it is important, huh? They're sending that special train through from Cascade sooner than I expected. General Juarnal Graves was just elected president of the road? I remember. Well, he's bringing a bunch of Eastern bankers and lawyers with him. The road needs new financing, and they're here to make an inspection. They're leaving Cascade for Hunter's Bend the first thing in the morning. What if something happens to that train, Mr. Blair? You know, that's what I've been thinking. There'd be the dickens to pay. Lem, find the yardmaster. What are you going to do? Take a hand car and meet them. I'm going to ride that train all the way here. If it doesn't get through safely, it won't be because I didn't try. Outside the dispatcher's office, at heard Lem tell Blair of the special train that was leaving Cascade for Hunter's Bend. He reported the news to the Lone Ranger, and with Kirk Masters accompanying them, they too left to ride in the direction of Cascade. Kirk, if someone is really trying to ruin the Cascade in Northern, this train will be an ideal target. Yes, you're right, Mr. No doubt about it. But we've got to decide something. Now, we're on horses. We can't hope to guard the train throughout its entire trip. The best we can do is decide where an attempt is likely to be made, then watch that place. Well, maybe it's a mountain. I think Tonto's right. How about that trestle across Wild Horse Canyon? There's a 500-foot fall there. That's the place I'd pick if I were out to wreck any trains. Wild Horse Canyon. You see, the train rounds occur just before it reaches the trestle, doesn't it? That's right. And no one in the cab of the engine can see the trestle till they're ready. In other words, the trestle isn't there. If it's been wrecked, no one on the train is going to know it till it's too late to stop. Right. There's a long way from here. We'll have to make time. Come on till it! Henry Blair riding his handcar reached Cascade in time to board the special train. Until the train approached the modernist country, separating Cascade from Hunter's Bend, he spent most of his time in conversation with Arnold Graves, the Cascade and Northern's new president. I didn't want to say too much in front of your guests, Mr. Graves, but I'm worried. That's why I joined him. I'm worried, too, Blair. We need new financing. That's why these men are here. We've been having a battle with that transcontinental and Pacific gang. They want control. One more accident and they'll get it. I hope you can, Blair. I'll do my best. Excuse me. I'd like to go forward and ride in the engine. Our greatest danger lies in this mountainous country ahead. I'd like to be in the engine where I can keep an eye on things. Good idea. For right ahead. All right. Thanks. I'll see you later. Henry Blair went forward. Several minutes later, he had climbed over the tender, piled high with wood for fuel and had let himself down onto the swaying platform of the engine. Hello, Matt. Hello, Jim. Well, don't go on if it isn't Mr. Blair. Look who's here, Jim. We'll be needing all the pressure we can get through here. Don't worry, Mr. Blair. No one can keep these boilers far better than I can. Good. I came forward to keep an eye on things, Matt. How close are we to Wild Horse Canyon? About five minutes now, Mr. Blair. Expecting trouble there? Not expecting, Matt. Just hoping there won't be any. Wait. Look ahead there. What's that? I don't see anything, Mr. Blair. Mr. Blair, what are you doing? Put that bar down. Oh, don't. Hey, what's going on here? You're going crazy, Mr. Blair. What's the matter with you? There. That takes care of you two. Not a jump clear while we're still going up this grade. My work will be done. We're almost at the same moment. A short distance away. Look at the trusses. Someone's been here ahead of me. He's been blown up. There, Crane. Follow me. It's got to be stopped. Come on. But there's two companions close behind him. The masked man raced toward the approaching train. As he neared the Carini engine, the lone ranger began to shout and fire warning shots, not knowing that the engineer and fireman lay unconscious on the engine floor. The trusses are down. They're not here. I couldn't even see them. Then how's the train to be stopped? We can't board it. It's going too fast. No chance to board it. There's one chance, Tutto. There's just one thing we can do. Come on. After leaping from the cab of the engine, Henry Blair began his long journey a foot back to Cascade. He already had a story prepared to explain his return. And his appearance, scratched and bleeding as he was from his fall, was designed to make his story convincing. When he finally reached the station at Cascade, it was late at night. He pushed the door open and fell inside, exhausted. Help. Help, someone. What the fuck? Hey, Clare. Mr. Clare, what happened? What are you doing back here? Right, Mason. Tressel. The train was out. The train went through. Oh, it was awful. The train went through the tressel, you say? Yes, but I don't even want to talk about it. Mr. Clare, if it went through, how did you get back? I was in the engine. Saw it coming just in time. I jumped. But you did see the train go into the canyon, Blair? But it's a mask man again. Answer my question. Did you or did you not see the train go into the canyon? Yes, yes, of course I did, man. You lie. But it can't be. You were killed, you. No, none of us was killed, Blair, thanks to the mask man. Not even me, Blair, though I'll bet you wish I was dead. Matt. I'm here, too. We're all here and alive, every one of us. You, Jim. Sure. With a bump on my head where you hit me. If it hadn't been dark, or if you would follow the right of way all the way back, Blair, you would have known we were alive, for our train is sitting out and back in the yards right now. But how are... I don't understand. Needless trick I ever heard of. The mask man tried to rouse Jim and me to stop the train, but he couldn't because we were knocked out. Then just before we got past him, he noticed we had air brakes. Air brakes? Yes. He fired at the air brakes connecting the last two cars. When the brakes parted, the train stopped automatically. Just in time, too. Yes, just in time. Well, I thought... I thought you were short again. Blair, well... Who hired you to do all this? Was it the Transcontinental and Pacific? You might as well confess it, you know. We've got you dead to rights. Sure they hired me. What if they did? They're more powerful than you are, Graves. They'll protect me, too. You won't dare touch me. Blair, you're fooling yourself. Those fellas hire men like you, but when you're caught, they don't stand behind you. They don't dare. And even if they tried, it wouldn't do them any good. You're through, Blair. If we're lucky if you aren't strung up. You work for the Transcontinental, Blair. We had a much better man on our side. We had the Lone Ranger. The feature of the Lone Ranger incorporated, created and produced by George W. Trendle, directed by Charles D. Livingston, and edited by Fran Stryker. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beemer.