 with the speed of light, the cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the lone ranger. With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the masked writer of the planes led the fight for law and order in the early western United States. The stories of his strength and courage, his daring and resourcefulness have come down to us through the generations, and 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 hoof beats of the great horse, Silver. The lone ranger rides again. Come on, Silver! Faster, boy, faster! I am Silver! Tobacco smoke hung like a thick blue fog in the bar room of the Longhorn Cafe. Young Jeff Atkins, co-owner of the Circle Bar Ranch, noticed at the moment he stepped through the swinging doors. Perhaps that was the reason he failed to see the significant glance exchanged by two men at the far end of the room, or hear the side door of the cafe slam quickly as though someone had just hurried away. For the present, Jeff Atkins was interested in only one thing, circle bar punchers who were overstaying their weekend holiday in town. He pushed his way through the crowd. Hi, Jeff. Oh, hello, Cal. Seen any of my boys hanging around here? Nairly a one today, Jeff. Last night it was different. Yeah, I know. But where are they now? Can't say. Hello, Atkins. Have you seen any of my Circle Bar hands? A couple of them were back there playing stud about a half an hour ago. Thanks. Well, well, well, if it ain't Jeff Atkins. Hello, Mead. Don't tell me you've decided to pay the Longhorn a visit and see how the common folk live. I'm in here for only one reason, to look for some of my punches. Oh, is that so? Have you seen any of them? Well, come to think of it, there were some Circle Bar waddies around here somewhere. Why don't you take a look? Thanks, I will. Well, wait a minute, Jeff. I, uh, well, I just wanted to ask about your sister. How is she? Kitty's fine. Good, good. I'm glad to hear it. Kitty's a lovely girl. Very lovely girl. Yeah. Now, just one thing wrong with Kitty. Wrong? She hasn't got sense enough to tell you to go soak your head. That's very funny, Jeff. Very funny. It's not funny to me. What Kitty can possibly see in a big stuffed galoot like you is more than I can understand. You're young, Jeff, and hot-headed. But I like it. Who knows, you might be my brother-in-law someday. If that day ever comes, I won't be around. Oh, say, I just remembered. I did see some of your punches. They were outside talking to Mark Bennett. Bennett? Yeah. Of course, it's none of my business. But I understand Bennett is offering them a good job down on his spread. They've got a job. I mean, one with a boss has enough money to pay off. Been having a little trouble meeting the payroll, haven't you, Jeff? Kitty and I have had plenty of trouble since Dad died. But we'll make out all right. What you need is a little new blood out there on the circle bar. Somebody with money. Now, if Kitty and I... You shut up. Just a suggestion I'm going to make to your sister. Not as long as I'm around. May change your mind. Oh, uh, you know, I just remembered where I saw Bennett and those cowhands yours. Where? Right outside here in that little alleyway by the side of the cafe. If you want me to... I'll find him. Bennett. Walk out in the light so as I can see you. Look here, Bennett. You can't do a... I'll do any... Why you... Atkins and Bennett. Let's hold over now. Keep real Bennett. Jeff, Jeff, what happened? The minute I walked out here, Bennett pulled a gun on me. I had to shoot and self-defense. You shot... Wait, I'll see. Uh, you killed him, all right. Two bullets right through the heart. I'm sorry, but he shot first. Jeff, I think this is a case for the sheriff. Hey, let me sort it out. Let me sort it out. What's going on here? Oh, Sheriff, I was just going to send for you. Who's been slinging lead? Jeff Atkins. He just killed Mark Bennett. Yeah? What do you say, Jeff? Bennett drew on me when I walked out that door. I had to shoot to defend myself. Mark always was kind of an ordinary critter. I'm taking a look at him. You shouldn't have done it, Jeff. That's no way to settle an argument. There wasn't any argument. He shot first, I tell you. What'd you say, Jeff? He yelled at me, told me to come out into the light, and then went for his gun. No use lying about it, son. Only makes things worse. Lying? I'm not lying. You say Mark Bennett pulled a gun on you. He's right over there, dead. And there's no gun in his hand. None anywhere near him. There must be. He shot at me. There's no law in this county against defending yourself, Atkins. But there is a law against murder. I don't understand. You're under arrest, Jeff, for killing Mark Bennett. Now, wait a minute, Sheriff. Maybe there's a mistake. There's no mistake. The dead man ain't even packing a gun belt. Come on, Atkins. Oh, wait. All right, I'll go with you, Sheriff. And I've got to get word to Kitty some way. I'll ride out and see your sister, Jeff. I'll go, Jeff. I'll tell her. Oh, thanks, Bill. Thanks a lot. Not a calm hand on the place, and I don't know what you'll do, but we'll tell her anyway. Sure. Better give me that shooting iron, Jeff. Here. All right, Sheriff. I'm ready. Long a hard-packed trail that wound among the low hills of Paiute Basin, three horsemen urged their mounts forward. In the lead and astride a powerful white stallion, there wrote a tall man whose face was partially covered with a black mask. He was flanked on one side by a young boy on a Mustang pony, and on the other by an Indian astrider paint. It was the lone ranger, Dan and Tonto. Suddenly, as they rounded to turn and found themselves nearing a ranch house, the masked man called a halt. Oh, who's this boy? Oh, oh, oh, oh. Well, we're having a little luck. No sign of water all morning, and suddenly we find a ranch house. The horses can use a drink. How about it, Silver? A drink of cold water will taste pretty good to me, too. There's bound to be plenty of it here, Dan. Sure. See the windmill? There's a watering trough for the horses right in back of the house. I don't know who owns this ranch, do you, Tonto? No. Me not, no. No, we won't have to ask them. We'll just water our horses and leave. They'll never know the difference. No, Dan, the ranch is private property. We'll ask their permission. Oh, shucks. Little water doesn't make any difference. Well, it isn't the water. It's a question of ownership. Remember, Dan, if you respect other people's rights, they'll respect yours. Yeah, I see what you mean. Now, you ride ahead and ask if we can water our horses. I don't know. I'll follow. Get up there, boy. Get up. Oh, there, boy. Oh, oh. I'll be right back, pony. Then we'll get that drink. Good afternoon, ma'am. Can I know? I mean, can my friends and I get some water for our horses? Of course you can. The trough's right back at the house. Yes, ma'am. We saw it when we rode up. I know where it is. There was no need to ask. You're more than welcome. Oh, thank you, ma'am. Uh, you spoke of your friends. How many are they? Three of us. Then if your horses are thirsty, you three must be the same way. I'll make some lemonade. Oh, gee, that'll be swell. I mean, I'll tell my friends. Thank you. Well, then, what did you find out? She said we were more than welcome to all the water we want. Good. Steady. Come on over here, Silver. Huh? Come scout. Gee, she's a very nice girl. She invited us to come in and drink some lemonade. That's kind of her, Dan, but I'm afraid we won't have time to. Look, Kimosabi, man come right plenty past. Gee, must be in an awful hurry. Yes. And until we know who he is, it might be best for us to stay close to the house here. Out of sight, keep the horses quiet. Ah. Kitty, Miss Atkins. It's Jeff. Jeff? He's not hurt. No, not exactly. He's in jail. He asked me to come and tell you. Jeff in jail? I can hardly believe it. It's true. The sheriff just locked him up. He's charged with murder. Murder? Oh, no. Shot Mark Bennett in cold blood. Oh, I don't believe it. Happened right outside the Longhorn Cafe. I was there. Jeff wouldn't murder anyone. Bennett's dead, and your brother admits he killed him. Here comes Colby Reed. He was there too. He'll tell you the same thing I did. Mr. Mead. Kitty. What's this about Jeff? I'm afraid it's true, Kitty. He shot Mark Bennett. I must go to him at once. Where is he in jail? Well, I don't think that'd be such a good idea, Kitty. Why? Well, everybody in town's pretty riled up about the killing. There sure are. There's even talk going around about lynching. Shut up, Hill. You better let me handle it, Kitty. I'll get a good lawyer, and we'll do everything we can. Um, step outside a minute, Bill. I want to talk to Miss Atkins along. Sure, Cory. Anything you say. I still can't believe it. Why would Jeff of all people shoot a man who wasn't armed? What I wanted to say, Kitty, is this. Jeff's in a pretty tough spot. He needs help. Both of you do. Well, surely a trial will prove his innocence. The evidence is all against him. Good lawyer might help. Lawyers cost money. Well, that's the point I'm getting at. Kitty, you know I think a lot of you. I always have. You and Jeff have had a hard time making ends meet here at the Circle Boss since you partied. And now to make things worse, Jeff's in trouble. Just what are you trying to say, Mr. Mead? Well, I can't make it much plainer, but here it is. I've got quite a bit of influence in town. If you'll promise to marry me, I'll help Jeff out of his trouble. Marry you? Well, you could do worse. I got the best gambling layout in town and a few thousand dollars in the bank. What do you say? My brother's in jail, charged with murder, and we have no money to hire a lawyer. But you'll help us, providing I marry you. Is that your offer? That's about it. You're not taking advantage of a situation, are you, Mr. Mead? Money talks. So do I. And I'm going to give you the same answer Jeff would give you. Yeah? What is it? This. Get out of here. Get out of here. You'll wish you'd sung a different tune. That brother of yours is getting his next traction. Get out. Jeff, Jeff, what'll we do? Now there's noise. Excuse me, ma'am. I'm sorry. I didn't. You're the boy who wanted water for the horses, aren't you? Yes, ma'am. They're all watered now, thank you. Sorry about the lemonade. I was going to make some for you and your friends, but something dreadful has happened. I know. You know. He isn't sort of my friends. That's why they sent this to you. Goodbye. Wonder what he meant. Why would anyone send me a silver bullet? 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. Lone Ranger, Tonto and Dan left the Circle Bar Ranch, their roads solved for a few miles, then doubled back on another trail to the town of Paiute. They stopped in a small grove of cottonwood trees. First thing we'll do is check up on that gambler's toy of the shooting. That'll be up to you, Dan. Sure. Tonto, you go to the jail where they're holding the girl's brother. I've got everything you can. Huh. I'll wait here for both of you. Hurry, because there's no time to lose. The law moves very fast in cases like this. We've got to be ahead of it. Come on, boy. Get up there. Get him out of town. Listen, Miss Edkins, I was never so surprised than you were. Never figured that young brother yours for a gunslinger. Well, he's not, Sheriff. I know there must be more to it than, well, then there appears to be. Wish I could say the same thing. I like Jeff, but the law is the law. And with a trial coming up real fast. When's the trial to be? Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. Judge figures it's best to get it over with. Can I see Jeff now? Well, sure. He's back in the cell. Right this way. What's that over there in the corner? Shucks. Don't be scared, Miss Edkins. That's nothing that'll hurt you. What is it? Just a red skin sleeping off a dose of too much fire water. Why don't you put him in a cell? Don't need to. He's harmless. Came around a couple hours ago and asked if he could sleep in the jail. It's easier to humor them engines and argue with them. Well, here we are. Got a visitor, Jeff? Jeff. You can go in and sit down if you want him, Miss Edkins. Ain't carrying any concealed weapons, are you? No, of course not. All right. I'll be waiting in the office. Let me know when you're through talking. I guess you've heard all about it, Kitty. Is it true? Did you kill Mark Bennett? That's true. But it wasn't murder. I shot in self-defense. Jeff, would a lawyer help? He might. We haven't any money to hire one. Corey Meade came out to the ranch to see me. What he want? He offered to help. Said he'd use his influence, hire a lawyer. Corey Meade offered all of that. There was some catch to it. Not much. He just wanted me to marry him. Marry? Why that low-down... Now wait a minute. I was just as mad as you are. And I'd probably take his offer. If it hadn't been for something that happened just when he left. What was it? A boy who stopped a water his horse gave me this. See? What's that? A silver bullet. Kitty. Fred, you've been worrying too much about this. You'd better go home and get some... You don't understand. Do you know what this means? What? It means the Lone Ranger knows about us. And if he knows, he'll help. I'm sure he will. That's impossible. No one around here has ever seen the Lone Ranger. It's just sort of a myth that people keep repeating. This silver bullet's not a myth. At first I didn't know what it meant. Then I remembered the stories I've heard. That's all we have to depend on. I'm as good as dead right now. I've never seen a real gunfight. Yeah, this is the place, Bob. Bennett was right over there. Atkins was standing here. Oh, gee. Did you see it? Well, no. I didn't actually see the gents with their shooting irons in action. But I came right out. A bunch of us did. Mark Bennett must have died instantly. Yeah. I guess Mark must have cashed in real prompt. Can't blame him much for his two slugs through his heart. Were you the first one to find out he was dead? No. Corey Mead went over and looked at the damage first. I see. Then the sheriff came out and sized the whole thing up. It was him that discovered Bennett wasn't packing a gun. Then that's what made the shooting a murder, huh? You're right, sonny. You know, I think it's a good thing for kids like you to know about gunslinging, such as this was. You do? Sure. Kind of an object lesson. You know what I mean? No, I don't. But thanks anyway for the information. You're welcome, sonny. You also find out when the trial's going to be? Ah, trial tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. Good. Then the information you got was equally important. It's the same story we heard that man told Miss Atkins when he came out to the ranch. No, not exactly. We know a lot more about Corey Mead than we did before. What do you mean? Mead's a ferro dealer at the Longhorn, isn't he, Toto? Ah. And he probably lives at that boarding house next door. And we'll wait here until about midnight and pay a visit to Mr. Mead's room when he's not at home. There's only a few moments past midnight when three horsemen reigned up their mounts silently in the deserted street back of the Longhorn Cafe. Oh, sir, sir. Oh, take it easy, boy. All right. Quiet now. We'll leave the horses here. How do we know which room is his? Well, me find out today. Room and corner, a house belong to Mead. Come on. Walk as quietly as you can. Yeah, but the door, how we get in? It's like the back door of the most boarding house that's unlocked. Wait, I'll try it. I was right. Come on in. Is this Mead's room, Toto? Uh-huh. Locked. We'll have to force it right a match, Toto. Uh-huh. What are we searching for? Nothing, Dan. It's much easier to make Corey Mead do his own searching. I don't understand. You will before the day is over. Put out the drawers and that dresser, Dan, dump them on the floor. Well, I don't see why, Dan. Corey, there's no time to waste. I'll pull the mattress off the bed. There. That's good enough. Let's get out of here. Yes, Silver? Where are we going now? You and I go back to the camp. Toto will wait here and see that Mr. Mead follows our suggestions to the big fella. But how can he follow a suggestion when we haven't told him anything? We've told him a lot, Dan. Much more than he expects. You wait here, Toto. Ah, good. Come on, Silver. Get up there, boy. And it was less than two hours later that Corey Mead entered the front door of his boarding house. Well, what the... Well, it's open. I don't know where's that lamp. Oh, here it is. Somebody's been in here. Turned the place upside down. If they found... The carpet's not turned back. Maybe they didn't think to look under the floorboards. It's still here. Am I lucky? Can't take a chance like this again. Guess I'll just carry this with me from now on. Sure. It's safer on Mead than anywhere else. Even at Jeff Hackins' trial. All right, Mr. Hackins, go home with your story. That's all there was to it. The minute I walked out the side door, Mark Bennett yelled at me. And then he went for his gun. I beat him to the draw. You're accused of murder because you're shutting an armed man. He had a gun. I saw it. I swear I did. Yes. Any of you other gents who were in the longhorn yesterday afternoon, see Mark Bennett packing a gun? Hi, dead judge. I saw Mark carrying his regular gun. Same one he's owned for 10 years. If that's right, where's Bennett's gun now? It wasn't on him after the killing. I know that. Who was the first one of you to reach Bennett after he was shot? Corey. Corey Mead. That's right, Corey. Sure it is. And when I saw Mark Bennett, he didn't have a gun in his hand. Nowhere's there one on the ground anywhere around him. To my way of thinking, Judge, it's a plan... Never mind it. The court will do all the thinking in this room. Jeff, it looks pretty bad for you. Evidence proves you shot Mark when he was unarmed. I didn't. He shot first. Very quiet. Jeff Atkins, according to the evidence, you're guilty of murder. Therefore, it's a sentence of this court that you hang by your neck until you're dead. It may to be mercy on your soul. No, no. Grab sir and miss Atkins. That's the law. So what are we around here? In the excitement caused by the verdict of death for Jeff Atkins, no one noticed the young boy slip into the courtroom and hurried to the chair where Kitty sat crying softly. Miss Atkins. What'd you say? Oh, you're the boy over here. Here's a message for you. Read it. You'll know what to do. Here. Message? Goodbye, Miss Atkins. Good luck to you. All right. Say something. You certainly can, Miss Atkins. What is it? I accused Corey Meade of withholding evidence from this court. Evidence? What kind of evidence? The gun belonging to Mark Bennett. He took it from Bennett's body because he was the first one to reach him after the shooting. That's a lie. And I also accused Mr. Meade of being in possession of that same gun right now. Now, quiet. Search Corey Meade, chief. Sure, I will. No, you won't. Watch him, chief. He's got a gun. No, you ain't you? I've got it now. I've got it now. Let me see that shooting iron, chief. Here. Yes. There's a name engraved right here in the barrel. This gun belonged to Mark Bennett. Corey Meade, this court just made a big mistake. It retracts a sentence passed on the defendant, Jeff Atkins. And instead, the sentence is viewed to 20 years in the territory of prison for obstructing justice and withholding evidence. Jeff Atkins? Yes, Judge. You've got a mighty smart sister, sir. She's the reason I can see you're a free man. Here's to Smith. Oh, Jeff, isn't it wonderful? Kitty, how did you ever think of that? I mean, that Meade would have that gun on him. I didn't think of it, Jeff. It's all written here in this note that was handed to me a few minutes ago. Note? Who sent it? It's not signed, so I don't know. But it was wrapped around another silver bullet like I showed you before. Silver bullet? Let me see. Here. It's the bullet that saved your life, Jeff. You've just heard. It is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.