 A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty hail silver, the Lone Ranger. Full Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the planes 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. There was general satisfaction when the notorious leader of an outlaw gang was thrown into jail in Poxville. Jeff Ritter's capture and conviction was considered a victory for Sheriff Bates, even though the charge was nothing more than disturbing the peace and the term a mere 60 days. Ritter's term was nearly served when he made his jailbreak. Jailbreak! Jailbreak! Ritter's house! Get your horses! Go get him! Get your horses! Go get him! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Well, he let the service term all over again, won't he, sheriff? That's the law. Then what? Are you a Lady Buster? Boys, don't ask me to figure the how and why of Jeff Ritter's antics. I'm only a sheriff, not a mind reader. Oh, sheriff. Yeah... What are you one, stranger? No one in the sheriff's office expected that the stranger dressed as a cow hand was the uponmost legendary character known as the Lone Ranger. I've heard that Ritter was a dangerous outlaw, the leader of a large gang. That's what's generally known about him. Why then was he given only 60 days in jail? It's all we could give him for disturbing the peace. Is that why he was jailed? That's right. We never been able to get any proof of his other doings. It's pretty slick about the way he commits his crimes. Didn't you jail any of his men? No, we never had nothing against him. Never seen him as a matter of fact. We don't know who works for Ritter. Keeps his men pretty well hit away. Did any of his men help him break out of jail? Some one slipped him a saw and a horse all saddled and ready. We don't know who it was. Ritter must have wanted to be free for some very good reason, don't you think, Sheriff? Yes, he must have. Dog gone and all, it's got me stopped trying to figure now. Hey! Hey, I wonder... What's that, Jake? It was an ombre in town yesterday. He's asking about the Westbound stage. When it was due to get here, all that. What about it? Well, I gave him what information I could. Then he asked if I know anything about a pretty young girl who was due to get here on it. Seems that lawyer Avner Cricket had written to her and told her to come here. Well, Avner Cricket hasn't been here in town for a long time. He lives over by Red Rock, north of here. Yeah, yeah, I know. Any how, Sheriff? I've seen that ombre that was asking me questions around town just before the jailbreak. I haven't seen him since. Maybe he's one of Ritter's men. Maybe so, can't tell. Be on watch, though, and if you see him again, let me know. I will, sure enough. I wonder what Cricket was writing a girl in the East for. Why she was coming out here. The lone ranger left the Sheriff's office and walked slowly to the edge of town. There, his stride lengthened. He hurried toward a small grove where his great horse, Silver, was waiting. Hello, there, Silver. In a few moments, he had changed to his familiar clothes and mask. Then he leaped to the saddle. Easy, big fella. One, two, three. On the masked man entered a cottonwood forest and rained up where Tondo waited in camp. One, two, three. You come fast, Kimosabe. Easy, big fella. Tondo, I have a slim lead on Ritter. Only slim lead? Yes, that might be important. Just before he escaped, a stranger came into town and asked questions. He learned that a lawyer named Cricket had written a letter to a girl in the East. Uh-huh. A stranger might be one of Ritter's gang. He might have been the one that helped Ritter get away. You know lawyer Cricket? He's in charge of that old Carlson house back in the hills. Oh, me, no house. Carlson lived alone there until he died a few months ago. No one go near house now. Cricket might have written Carlson's heir. You think that why Ritter had to get out of jail? I don't know, Tondo. I'm going to try to find out. Ritter's whole gang should be jailed for a long time. He broke out of jail to lead a robbery. I don't want to catch him at it. Come on, we're going to meet the stage in the East. The notion of you sitting up here with me in the garden, Miss Betty, there's robbers, it hinders the plenty. Who'd rob this stage? Well, it's known pretty generally that you're going to get the hidden golds, your Uncle Carlson lived. Why, how can that be known? You've done too much talking at the stage stations. He stopped at the stage. Rain of blood! Oh, there! Get down to the floor out of the way. Don't fire. Rain of blood! Blast it all, never got a chance to fire on it. Oh, there! Now we're in for it. All up, Silver. I think it easy. We're not going to rob you. He's mad. Now, see here, Mr. We don't hack her to shoot it out for what we got on this stage. You just leave Miss Betty alone and you can have what mail we're toting. I don't want mail. I just want a word with that girl. What do you want? Have you been stopped on this trail? No. Guard, have you seen anything of Jeff Ritter? Really? Nope. I heard he was in jail. He escaped. Why, that dead-ready trail? Miss Betty, you've had a letter from a lawyer named Cricket, haven't you? Why, how did you know about that? What were his instructions to you? Well, I don't... Hey, none of your business. Now hang it on me. I'm quite sure Jeff Ritter broke out of jail in the hope of robbing Miss Betty. It's normal that Carlson had quite a bit of gold hidden away in his old house. Oh, he didn't talk it. Did you know about that? It's true, isn't it? Well, yes, but it's hidden. I don't know where it is. Oh? Honestly, I don't. Well, I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. Only Abner Cricket knows where my uncle had the gold hidden. Is that mentioned in the letter he wrote you? But, yes... Well, there's never been stopped having so much to say, Miss Betty. Where is Cricket going to meet you? Well, he... He said he'd be at the hotel in town, the next town, tomorrow. Very well. Come on, Toto. Get him on the scalp! Come on! Away from the stage, coach. The Lone Ranger's signal to brief halt. Oh, sir. Oh, sir. Well, from here, Toto, we'll let the horses take an easy gait. It's a long ride to Abner Cricket's home. Ah. We go there? Yes. If it was after that gold, you'd have to see the lawyer or the girl. He hasn't seen the girl. You think him go to lawyer? Right. I hope we're not too late. Come on, sir. Get him on the scalp. Abner Cricket rode an old, slow-gated horse over the trail between his home and the town where he was to meet the girl from the east. Dusk and darkness overtook him on the journey, but he was unconcerned. It was a pleasant ride by moonlight. Pleasant, that is, until a voice called out, Hey there! Right up, Cricket! Ho, ho, hey, boy! Oh, what talk to you? You call my name, stranger, but I don't know you. Well, you know you, because we were told you'd be traveling this route. The girl said to meet you and save you extra traveling. How's that? Instead of going all the way to town to meet her, you're to go straight to the abandoned Carlson Ranch. Where is Miss Betty? I reckon she's sleeping right now. Had a long trip from St. Joe. Hard trip for a girl not used to travel. You say she's sent you to meet me? Now, how else do you suppose we'd be here? Well, come to think of it, I don't know. Now, let's travel now. As soon as we get to the old Carlson Ranch, the better. What did you say your name was? Didn't say. Just call me Jeff. What arrangements have been made for moving the gold? Arrangements? Sure, it weighs plenty. A wagon can get through the region. It'll have to be carried on mules or pack horses. Oh, didn't know about that. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to speak to Miss Betty in town. She'll have to hire some men. I'll handle it. You won't be able to lug it all unless you make a dozen trips or so. I'll get more men when we see how much gold there is. Well, there's plenty. Some of it's not refined, so it weighs a lot. Shove on. We can talk about it when we see it. You sure you know where the hiding place is? Yes, I know. I guess you're the only one that does know, hm? That's right, Jeff. How long will it take us to reach the Carlson place? Well, from here it shouldn't be more than two hours steady riding. And we'll do two hours of steady riding. You go ahead and set the pace according to what your horse can stand. Get out of there. Come on, Butch. Get up there. Do you think he suspicions anything, Jeff? No, I don't think he does. Keep your gun handy just in case. I will have to get the rest of the boys in on this if that gold's going to be as hard to lug as he says it is. Well, he couldn't get him. Keep going. We're right behind you. When the lone ranger and tonto learned that the lawyer had set out on his trip, they started after him, following a trail that was clearly defined in the bright moonlight. Presently they came to the place where Abner Cricket's horse had stopped, and there they found the tracks of other horses. Easy, Silver. Two men met him here, Tonto. That's right. Then Cricket changed his course. He didn't continue to town. Him gold that way. Yes, that's right. And he seemed to have gone without a struggle. Well, there's no sign of struggle here. Now what do we do? We follow a lawyer? But we'll follow him. Look at the direction of his new route. It's a B-line toward the Carlson house. Meanwhile, the lawyer had reached the Carlson house with Ritter and Butch. You've got enough lambs going, Butch. All right, Jeff. Now, Abner, you show us where the gold is hidden. My instructions were to reveal the hide and place to nobody but the girl that's inherited the gold. The way you feel about it, we'll bring her here tomorrow. But it'll be a long, hard ride for her. She's not used to horseback, you know. That's so... However, if that's the way you want it... Just what to say about it? Well, you told you that she sent us. We're acting on her orders. Of course, if you want to question her orders, that's up to you. You sure about that? I won't argue with you, Cricket. Well, I reckon it'll be all right. I'll show you where the gold is. Now, that's good sense. Just step over this way. Bring the lamb, Butch. Right this way. There's a closet behind this door. Ah, so I see. Just an empty closet. But right here in the back wall, there's a section that moves. There's the hide and place. Right down those stairs. Good enough. Take charge of them, Butch. Take them down below there. What's the idea? Let me go. Shut up. But what's the idea? Thanks for showing where the gold is. You're not friends of Miss Betty at all. You lie to me, you aren't real. Shut up. Now go down them stairs and keep quiet if you know what's good for you. 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 our story. Old Abner Cricket, the lawyer, was neatly fooled by Jeff Ritter in his pal called Butch. After he showed where the gold was hidden in a secret cellar in the old Carlson house, Cricket was forced by Ritter to enter that cellar. All the information we need from you now, Abner, and we'll mire the oblige to it. You scheming polecat. Now we'll just have a look and see how much gold there is in here. You stand back, Abner. Go on, shoot me. I'd sooner be dead than face Miss Betty with the news of what I've done. Shoot me. What about it, boss? Oh, wait. Maybe we'll need something more from him. You can rock before you get any further information from me. Here's the gold, Ritter. Hold the lamp high. There is a pile of it here. Look at it. Why, it'll take a scorer man to move all this. It'll make the whole gang rich. Ritter, this is a neat night's work. Hey, what the? The lamp. Get a light. Get a light. Wait. Someone's coming down the stairs. Let me go. Help! It's all right, Abner. No, no. Let me go. Who's that? Someone's got the old man. Stop struggling. Stop him. Hey! Someone's going up the stairs. Get a light. Strike a match. I can't see a thing. Hey, got Abner. Come back here. Come back here. Let us go. The next day, Betty waited in the hotel for Abner Cricket to keep his appointment. She became increasingly nervous and glanced off at her watch. And then at sunset, an Indian approached and handed her a note. Oh, here. Here, you read note. You? Why, you're the Indian that... Me with mask, friend, when you on stage. Oh, yes. Where are your friends? When you read note, then you see mask, friend. Him at back door. Oh. Well, very well. The girl read the few brief lines on the note as she crossed the hotel lobby to a small door that opened to the rear. The message bore two signatures. One that was unmistakably that of Abner Cricket, and another that was the sheriffs. Here, friend. Ready. You. Have you read the note? Yes. Abner Cricket and the sheriff both say I should trust you and do as you suggest. The sheriff had to leave town for a short time. But where is lawyer Cricket? Better you see him later. First, I must tell you why your uncle had to take such great precautions with the gold he wanted you to have. Yes. See, an outlaw named Jeff Ritter was after him. Oh. Your uncle didn't dare try to move so much gold to the mountains with the Ritter gang on watch. Oh, I see. The gold is worthless until it's brought from the hiding place. Wagons can't get through the tangle that surround the old house. The gold must be brought out by mules or horses. Well, what about this outlaw gang that's after him? They've got to be put where they belong. I hope that a note signed by both Cricket and the sheriff would give you confidence in me. I... I do trust you. Thanks. I'm glad. The guard and the driver of the stage explained something about you after you'd ridden away yesterday. Oh. When you called your horse Silver, they knew who you were. They said you're called the Lone Ranger. I, uh, want you to sit right in the hotel lobby as if you were waiting for the appointment with Abner Cricket. And you? I'm going to try and carry out a plan to help you in the law. I'll do anything you say. Thanks, Betty. But, well, you might give me a hint about your plans. I'm going to let Jeff Ritter have your uncle's gold. Jeff Ritter had sent for his gang to come and help move the heavy gold from the old house in the mountains. He waited there impatiently until his hard-riding, quick-shooting henchman arrived. It took you long enough to get here. I had some trouble finding the boys, Jeff. All right, oh. Well, you've got the new gold now, boss. Oh. But you've been shooting off his mouth, huh? Jeff, I only... Shut up! How much gold is there, Jeff? More than enough to make everything worth watching. Good. You haven't changed the plans, have you, Jeff? Why should the plans be changed? Well, on account of Cricket getting away last night. Has Cricket showed up in town? No. The girl hasn't seen Cricket. She's been sitting in the hotel waiting for him. I wonder where he was took by that hombre last night. I don't know and I don't care. Chances are that Cricket was figuring the same as we did. How's that? Figured to get Cricket, make him tell where the gold's hidden and take it for himself. They're not the only ones that heard about the gold. Plenty of folks around these parts that know about it. That's so... And the chances are we're not the only ones that's heard about the letter that Cricket wrote to the Carlson girls. Please let that hombre try and get the gold. We'll have plenty of men to handle him. Even if Cricket does tell him where it is. Which I doubt. Yeah. Sheriff's not around town, so we don't need to worry about him interfering. Everything's moving all right. Cricket does get loose to talk. We'll have the gold before anything can be done about it. And let's get to the loading of that gold. How about it, boss? You fellas empty out your saddlebags. Get ready to take on as much as your horses can carry. And then come with me and load up the gold. Ritter left one of his men to watch the horses outside the old Carlson house. Then led the others to the cellar hiding place where they worked packing the gold into saddlebags. They were nearly finished when the guard came below. Hey, boss. It's medic. Better come upstairs. We've got company coming. Who? Sheriff and Abner Cricket? Sheriff. Where's he coming from, Jeff? I thought he wasn't around. He wasn't in town. That's all I know. Where's Abner coming from? How do I know? The horses are pretty well out of sight. Good. What are we going to do? Meet him with gunfire? How many are coming? Just those two? Yeah, just the Sheriff and Cricket. They'll be easy to handle. Come on, boys. Bring those saddlebags upstairs. We'll arrange a reception for the law and the lawyer. Let's go inside. I'm with you, Sheriff. There he is. Ritter, I want you. You're under arrest. Well, Sheriff himself. We got you, Ritter. We got... Don't talk foolish. You got who? Look around you, Sheriff. I got a score of my men here. And they're all ready to shoot as soon as I say the word. He's got his whole gang with him. Well, Ritter, looks like you're pretty well guarded here. Yeah, that's about the case, Sheriff. Boys, listen to me. Nothing you can say, Sheriff. Listen now. Don't make a mistake. As it stands right now, I want Ritter to go back and do a 60-day term for disturbing the peace. You're all crooks, but I've got no proof against the rest of you. Listen to me. You can laugh, but it's not funny. As soon as you take gold from this house, I'll have a serious charge against the whole pack of you. Now, don't make a mistake. We won't make a mistake. We don't need your advice, Sheriff. Not by a jug full. Ritter, I'm taking you to jail. If any of your men try to stop me, they'll be guilty of interfering with the law. I can jail them for that. You're not fooling us, Sheriff. I can jail them for capturing Abner. Maybe Abner will forget that if you go on about your business and leave this gold here. Yeah, we're likely to leave the gold here, uh, boy. I suppose Crick had told you we were here to get the gold. I did. Sheriff, they've got all the gold in their saddlebags. Neither you nor the Sheriff are going into fear with us. We're not, huh? You think I'll just stand here and let you make off with the gold? Oh, no, Sheriff. You're not gonna stand there. You and the old man are gonna travel along with us. Ducting an officer of the law is a serious offense, Ritter. Now, ain't that too bad. It means 10 years for every one of you. Stealing the gold is another 10 years. I'm warning you. It's going to cost every one of you 20 years in jail to travel with, Ritter. Not unless we're caught. You're caught right now. We've talked long enough, boys. Put some ropes on these two. Right, I got some ropes. Hold up. Yeah. I'm good and tight. There isn't one of you can say he wasn't warned. No, it's a matter of cricket. It's a rope too tight. I'll be afraid of hurting the old ghost. I don't know why we bother roping these two. Why not shoot them and throw them in the cellar? You do what I tell you and don't ask questions. These two are gonna be our hostages. Any of the men from town having to get on our track, we'll persuade them to turn back to save the life of the sheriff. That's a good idea. We're heading for the border, ain't we, Jeff? Right. When we get there, there'll be time enough to get rid of all excess baggage. Counting lawmen and lawyers. Let me see if those ropes are tight enough. I guess you won't get loose, Sheriff. You'll stay in those ropes too, Cricket. Come on, boys. Bring your saddlebags outside and mound up. The horses are around the back. The minute you men brought the gold through that door, you committed a 10-year robbery. And why don't you just throw us all in jail for change? That's just exactly what I aim to do, Ritter. Yeah, with your hands tied up. I've got help. I'd like to see it. And look this way. Hey! There he is. I'll get him. Come on, boys. Take him. A score of men who had crept into ambush while the sheriff was inside the Carlson house now leaped into view with guns drawn. A few shots were fired, but the outlaws, taken by surprise and outnumbered, were quickly overpowered. And if any one of you makes a fast move, you'll be shot. I'll cut those ropes, Sheriff. Follow free the lawyer. What sort of a trick is this? Is this a frame up? It's a sort of frame up that helps the law Ritter. That voice. Last night, when we were... That's right, you poor cat. He's the one that got me out of your hands last night. He's the one that told the sheriff how to handle things. See, the law's got us for capturing the sheriff. That's ten years. And for capturing me. That's another ten years. And for stealing the gold, that's ten years more. Thirty years for each one of you. And on top of that, Jeff Ritter gets an extra 60 days. What's more, we've got a score of witnesses to every charge. You crooks would have done well to turn Jeff Ritter over to me, as I suggested. But I knew you wouldn't. So did the mask man. All the stolen gold can be hauled to town by these crooks to serve as evidence against them. And Miss Betty will have the gold carried for free. Bad rabbit. It's bad enough to stick her necks in the noose without having to carry the evidences to be used against her. That's enough talk. Get going. Now, Sheriff, just one question. Who is that mask man? Take a look at him over there in that white horse with his Indian pow. We'll see you again, Sheriff. Come on. Who do you suppose would think up a scheme that would trick you pole cats into jail for 30 years instead of just Ritter alone for 60 days? Huh? Or the Lone Ranger, of course. Third is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.