 Ranger! Warrior of the Woodland! Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the Guardian of the Forest, Ranger Bill, pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Have you ever been in a dangerous situation where you have too much time? I know this sounds strange, because most of us never have enough time for the jobs we face. In our story today, though, the problem is reversed. A man might lose his life because he has too much time on his hands. Let's call this story Ten Hours Too Much. The day this story begins is just another day for us Rangers. Nothing unusual or exciting. It's simply a beautiful day, and we have many blessings to thank the Lord for. I was sitting in the office, eyeing a stack of paperwork on my desk, and trying to decide whether to file it in the wastebasket or roll up my sleeves and polish it off. Ranger Ed Quarters, Bill Jefferson speaking. Oh, hello, Peg. Long time no hear from you. How are things, including the little bankers? Things look rather glum at the moment, Bill. Oh? What's the matter, Peg? Ed's overdue home by three. He's never done this before, without calling me. Do you suppose something's happened to him? Why don't think so? Have you called the bank? Yes, but Jeb Hillier, the chief guard, says Ed left about closing time as far as he knows, and he's definitely not at the bank. Well, I wouldn't worry about Ed. Perhaps he was called away suddenly on an urgent business matter, and he'll get in touch with you as soon as he can. I don't think so. I called Mr. Peters, and he said as far as he knew, Ed didn't have anything pressing. Oh, I see. Oh, tell you what, give Ed another hour, or hour and a half. If he doesn't contact you, then call me, and I'll start the ball rolling to find you, okay? All right, Bill. That sounds like the sensible thing to do. I feel some relief just talking to you about it. I'll let you know the moment I hear from Ed. Ah, that'll be fine. And I'm sure everything will be all right, Peg. Well, goodbye for now. Tom, how are you and the boys coming along with the timber marking? Okay, Bill. We ought to be finished within a week. Then Frenchie Dousal and his boys can start thinning out this neck of the woods. Ah, that's fine work. I want to see your plat markings before we give Frenchie the go-ahead. All right. Say, the forest west of Cougar Canyon, and up as far as the high west ridge, is getting pretty scrubby. Oh? I was going to turn in a report on it, but as long as I'm talking to you, I thought I'd mention it. Well, thanks for the tip. I'll see that Angus and his boys get in there as soon as possible, and clear out that scrub. That all, Tom? Yep. Everything's routine right now. Okay. I'll see you later. Over and out. Bill? Yeah, Graywell. Marty Ford reports that tree farm planted 40,000 seedling trees this fall. Mm-hmm. Doesn't that sound like awful lot? No, they're doing it by machine now. That figure's okay. 40,000 trees? Not a lot of planting. No. We've got to step up production at the tree farm because we're getting behind the demand for new trees. We use a tremendous amount of seedlings each year, and then the ranchers and farmers want more and more to plant windbreaks. You know a good windbreak has to be five or six trees deep. How many trees farm going to plant next year? Well, they're shooting for 75,000. Oh, that many. Mm-hmm. Stumpy should be back from the accounting office at the payroll anytime now. And we're allowed to divide up the shackles according to each man's portion. Oh, you broke Bill. No, but my pocketbook is badly bent, and payday is very welcome. Yes, sir, he is here folding stuff, sure does wonders, and a man ain't much good without it. Everybody has a smile on the face on payday. Ranger headquarters. Bill, he isn't home yet. Oh, what? Oh, yes, Peg. Has Ed called you? No, not at all. No, no, just take it easy, Peg. Getting up a full head of steam isn't going to help any. Don't panic. I know it's bad for you and the children. You'll sense their fear, and then you'll have your hands full. I'll be at your home in ten minutes. I don't mention it. We'll find Ed, and we have to turn this whole country upside down. Goodbye. What wrong, Bill? Yes, I'm gone haywire. What is it? Well, I didn't mention it to you fellas before, because I thought he'd turn up shortly. Who'd turn up, sonny? Ed Banker. He's four and a half hours overdue home for dinner. Not bad. It ain't good for the vice president and the bank to be missing, young fella. Well, I'm going over to talk to Peg. Stumpy, Grey Wolf, you fellas stand by here. Alert all rangers for a manhunt, but don't move them until I give the word. And this is top secret for obvious reasons. I'll see you later. Do the children sense there's something wrong, Peg? I don't think so. I haven't told them. Ed frequently works late, and I'll tell him he's gone out of town if need be. Judy, worry so about her daddy that she'd be a nervous wreck if I told her the truth. I think that's wise, till we know something more definite. Now, what can you tell me about Ed's habits that I don't already know? Well, Bill, that's what's driving me frantic. Ed has such a set pattern of living, and he never deviates from it. Well, one week to the next, except when we're on vacation, of course. Well, give me a blow-by-blow description, will you? Well, Monday nights, he's home all evening, and Tuesday he goes to the gym and then to the men's club at church, and he's home by 11. And then Wednesday, one of us goes to pre-meeting, and Thursday is home night. Friday, we alternate between boys' club and quiet practice. Saturday, well, Ed calls it family day, and if we go out, we take the children. Sunday, of course, is the Lord's day, and we're all together that day. And during office hours, Ed attends several business men's clubs for lunches, and then one night a month, he attends the orphanage committee meeting. Well, that's it. Well, as you said, it's a set pattern, all right. Did he give you any clues this morning? What do you mean? Any unusual remarks or actions. Did he appear worried or nervous? On the contrary, Bill, he was unusually happy this morning. Well, yesterday he closed a big deal for the bank, and it'll bring in considerable new business. This is going to be rough. That's what's got me so worried. What could have happened to him? Now, take it easy, young lady. That's easy for you to say. He's not your husband. You've got to believe me for your own good. You can't be drawing mental pictures of tragedy for yourself or you'll crack up. Then you won't be able to take care of those three fine children of yours. Now, let's go on the basis that no news is good news. I'm sorry. I know you're trying to help, Bill. I'll be all right. Really, I will. That's good. Well, now I better get started. I'll keep you informed. You better try to rest. Sleep would be better. I can't sleep now. You want me to call the doc, have him send over a sedative so he can't sleep? No, I'll try to rest. Afraid to stay alone? My mother would be glad to come over and stay with you. Would she? That'd be wonderful. Just to have someone to talk to and give me a little moral support. Henry's out in the car. I'll have him drop me off and then bring my mother over here. Well, goodbye for now. Goodbye. Bill. Yes? How are you going to find it? Where will you begin looking? I don't know yet where we'll start. There's only one way to find a needle in a haystack. Well, how's that, Bill? Turn over every piece of hay until the needle is found. Grey Wolf, call in all rangers off duty or on duty for a manhunt. Right away. What's your plan, sonny? Call the sheriff and tell him to rouse his men out on the double. Get a hold of Captain Fredericks of the State Police and give him a description of Ed. Have him put out an all-points bulletin for Ed as a missing person. Right away! Grey Wolf, call in Hank. Hank? Hello, Cal. We've got a manhunt on Fred Banker. Here, siri. Oh, Bill will tell you about it when you and your men get here. It'll be mighty fine and keep this quiet, Cal. Yep. Goodbye. Well, Bill, Cal and his bloodhounds will be here in 15 minutes. That'll be fine. Now, all rangers will be here in half hour except men in firetowers. Okay. Let's get outside and get the cars ready. That's the story after this minute, Cal. Ed's vanished into thin air and there's no logical explanation for it. Well, maybe someone's holding him for ransom, being he's a banker. And there are a lot of possibilities, Cal. Now, here's my plan of action. I've marked out areas on the map and we'll go over them with a fine-tooth comb, one by one. We don't want to arouse the people right now, so no questions will be asked that will give away Ed's identity. I want all buildings that might be used to hide a man, searched, unless they're living dwellings, get the owners out of bed if necessary to open up. I've got Judge Wilson alerted and he'll issue any search warrants we may need, if necessary, right away. Cal, Stumpy, Graywolf, understand? Sure do. Yep. Very clear, Bill. Now, here are our maps for you fellas. I've marked your areas of search. Take your time and don't leave a stone unturned. All right, let's go. Now, Graywolf, I'm going to look through that old horse barn over there. You stick with the radio. Right, Bill. Sixty cars, seven. Go ahead, car six. We ain't found a thing in this sector. Should we proceed to section B2? Yep, go ahead to section B2. Car seven to car one. Go ahead, car seven. No results. Sections A1, B1, C1 have been searched. Okay, car seven. Ranger one to Sheriff one, over. We found a man's hat and coat. We're at the river and Main Street. We'll be right there, Sheriff one. Bill. Ah, yes? Cal, might have found something. Where at, Graywolf? At Main and River. There they are, by bridge. The hat we found. This is a clue. A coat and hat have been in the water a long time, Cal. Coats rather threadbare. The color of the hat doesn't go with the color of the coat. Ned's a pretty sharp dresser, you know. Ah, and I thought we had something, Bill. Now don't give up, Cal. When I have you men start dragging the river. Do you expect foul play? I don't know. But if he's been kidnapped, this coat and hat could have belonged to the person who did the job, even though they looked too waterlogged. I'm going to let Peg have a look at him. New fellows continue the search. Okay. Okay, boys, let's get back to work. We've still got a lot of ground to cover. I must have dosed off. Have you found Ed? No, not yet. I have a hat and coat I'd like you to look at. Now, now, take it easy. I feel certain they don't belong to Ed, but I want to be sure of her. Oh, all right. Come in the house. You don't have to stand out there. Thank you. Here they are. Those aren't Ed's. Thank the Lord for that. Yeah, I didn't think they were Ed's, but I want to make sure you recognize them. No, I don't. Okay. I'm sorry to have bothered you with this late hour. Oh, it's no bother. After all, you and your men are out there working. Would you like some coffee? Well, thanks, but we've got that all taken care of. I'm sorry I don't have cheerful news for you, but we'll keep at it until we find out. I know you will and I want you to know how grateful I am. Please let me know the minute you find anything, anything at all. I will, Peg. Good night. Report to headquarters, car seven. Car five to car one. We finished and got nothing to report. Report to headquarters, car five. Cal, you and your men report to headquarters. We've got some food there and coffee, and we'll get our heads together and see what we can come up with. I just didn't thought, Bill, you haven't said one word. Bill, you're awake. Sort of. These things got me puzzled. You're not alone. How can Ned disappear like this? Unless he, well, unless maybe... Unless he ran off with some of the bank's money? I'm sure that's entered a lot of minds this night. As far as I'm concerned, that's the last possibility. The guy now had better than that. That's what I keep telling myself. But where can he be? I knew that answer, Gray Wolf. He'd be a very happy wife and children right now. Or very sad. Well, now that we're refreshed, what's our next move? I'm going to seize the bull by the horns, fellas. Time's too short to do otherwise. Okay, shoot. Yeah, let's hear it. Yeah, I'm not right. I'm going to get Mr. Peters down to the bank and have him open up. You fellas get the employees out of bed and get them down to the bank and we're going to ask some questions. Maybe that do trick, Bill. Well, I hope so. Get going, fellas. Now, Gray Wolf got the station agents out of bed for the railroad and bus line and asked them if they've seen Ed. Only this time, use his name. After the bank closes, us guards like to sit down for a spell, Bill. I was on the front door, but then Mr. Banker could have walked out when I was getting a chair. I don't pay much attention to him because he's coming and going all the time anyway. Let's not beat around the bush, gentlemen. I've been Chief Clerk in this bank for 40 years and I have seen a lot of men come and go. Ed Banker's been giving me the creeps the last week or so. Sort of snooping around and looking. Well, I will say one thing, gentlemen. This is most unusual. Do you think Mr. Banker may have absconded with some money or securities? Oh, my word, that would be terrible. No, I didn't see him leave the bank. I'm Mr. Banker's secretary. Yeah, as far as I know, he left the bank at five o'clock. No, he wasn't acting strangely. Or was he? Or might have been? Seemed bad to preoccupy most of the day. Come to think of it now, Bill. Ed did that kind of funny today. He just didn't seem to be himself. Well, if you don't find Ed another hour, I'm going to have to call the bank examiners and have them rush in here for an orbit before we open for business. Mr. Peters, do you believe Ed has stolen money or securities from the bank? Right now, I don't know what to believe, Bill. I don't want to believe it, but I've got to entertain the eye there for the sake of the bank's reputation and the peace of mind of the depositors and the stockholders. The people won't take my word for it if it makes loose a scandal. Why, it's likely to have a run on the bank. A statement of condition by the examiners would stop that, wouldn't it? I hope so. Or we're ruined. I'm telling you, Ed isn't a thief or a crook. We mustn't think on that basis that we're lost. Maybe you're right, and maybe not, Bill. Men change from being honest to being crooked sometimes. Great world's right, sonny. There's no way that Ed hasn't taken off with some of the bank's money. There ain't any proof, but I got to agree with Bill this time. We got to assume Ed's honest. I think so, too. Great day, fellas. We've all known Ed for years. He's helped us all with financial problems of one sort or another. If there was only some shred of proof, some clue... But, Bill, I think I can help you there. How, Mr. Peters? Come on, speak out, man. Do you want the vault or see if it's been tampered with? Well, no. Oh, no, we haven't. But how would that help? Well, if Ed took the money, he'd have to take it from a teller's cage. There were no shortages reported. If he took securities, he'd have to take them from the security tellers. And they audit every night, and there were no missing securities reported. So, Ed would have to get into the vault to get his hands on cash or securities. Uh-huh. Let's go down in the basement and take a look at the vault. Well, there's the vault door, Bill. It weighs seven tons and has a time lock on it. Now, if all of you will stand back now, I'll try the combination. If the time lock's been tampered with, the door will open. Let's see. Seven... Four... Three... Eight... Six... Now, I'll try it. Gentlemen, the vault's securely locked and the time lock won't allow it to be opened until 8.30 in the morning. Ah, that's very good. Quiet, quiet, everybody. Bill, what's wrong? Quiet. I'm going to tap on the vault with my revolver. Now, listen. Someone's inside vault. Yes. Our good friend, Ed Banker. Bill calling safe company now to get man to come out and open vault. What can he do? There's a time lock on it. It'll tie him in. Now, listen here, young lady. If it all worked up into a lather, it ain't going to help none. Now, don't you fret. Bill, get him out of there even if he has to blow the door off with high explosives. Hello? Hello, can you hear me? He's in. I'm flying down to your plant in a helicopter and I'll pick you up in an hour. Bring an engineer along Do you understand? Yes, I understand. Hello? Hello? Operator, I've been cut off. This is Bill Jefferson. Call that number and tell him I'm on my way with the helicopter. Will you do that, please? Just a moment. I'll give you the supervisor. Hang the supervisor. This is a matter of life and death. Do as I say and be quick about it. This is Chief Ranger Bill Jefferson. I'll do as you ask, Mr. Jefferson. Thank you. Copter wide open. It'll be a knotty pine in 10 minutes. How long can he last in the vault? Well, I think I've got an idea of the size of the vault. I'd say his oxygen supply's getting pretty thin right now. He won't last more than half an hour. Maybe a better drill a hole to the vault door large enough to pump oxygen inside, Mr. Ford. Oh, that'd take hours. I can get this high-speed drill through to the time lock and get it to release the tumblers and bars. That's our safest approach. You're the doctor. Just one thing I want to be sure of. What's that, Mr. Jefferson? Hit that time lock the first time you drill. That's what I came for, sir. Let me have that lubricant, please. Here you are, Mr. Ford. How much farther? About a foot. Just pray this drill doesn't break. It's snapped. Give me that electromagnet. You mean this? You got the broken drill out with that? Yeah, sometimes. If I can't, we'll have to start all over. Peg, please control yourself. Mr. Ford's trying to get him out and can't be disturbed by emotional outbursts. She's coming. Oh, good. That was close. We'll try to get it the rest of the way. I threw the door in into the time lock. Try the door. Right. How do you feel, Ed? I guess I'm suffering from shock right now. What happened, man? I left my briefcase in the vault and went back to get it. Uh-huh. I guess I must have been as quiet as a church mouse because Frank didn't hear me. And he didn't know I had returned. So he closed the vault door and went home. Didn't think of making noise right away. I guess he left before I could get to the door to pound on it. And you had a close shave, Mr. because you had too much time on your hands. Ten hours to be exact. Ten hours too much. See you next week for more adventure with...