 by rehorsed with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. With his faithful 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 hoof beats of the great horse Silver, the Lone Ranger rides again. Whatever it was, he found himself suddenly alert in the middle of the night, alert and tense. His eyes tried to pierce the darkness of the room, and then he saw a door creak open. It was an outside door. It moved slowly an inch at a time. Delaney slipped from beneath his blanket and crouched on the floor behind the bed. The door was open wide, and a man's form stood silhouetted against the starlit plane. Delaney held his breath and waited tense and silent, as the figure raised a gun and fired twice. Those were for you, Delaney. Tom, help! Come here! I'll get you next time. That voice, that must be... Carl found it, and why did I call Tom? Shouldn't have done that. That was a fool. I shouldn't have shouted. Boss, what is it? What's up? You all right? Yes, yes, of course I'm all right. But, boss, just a second. Let me light a candle. Don't need a candle. Go on back to bed. To bed? Great day, boss. I heard you yelling for help. I heard a couple of gun shots. Tom, I told you to go back to bed. I just had a nightmare, that's all. Just a bad dream. But then shot. I told you I had a nightmare. I fired the shots myself. Well, if you say so, Mr. Delaney. I do say so. I could, if so, I heard a horse traveling away from here. But if you just had a nightmare, it's the first one I ever heard that wore shoes. The Lone Ranger and Tonto were camped at the edge of a woods not far from the Delaney Ranch House. They had been roused from sleep by the sound of the distant gun shots. A moment later, they heard a horse approaching fast. There come Fala Kimazabi. Him come this way. You see him? Yes, I see him, Tonto. He's coming across the plains, coming from that house. You think him fired shots? We're going to find out, steady boy. Steady silver. That's right, boy. I'm going to stop him, Tonto. Steady there, silver, steady boy. Here, saddle. Thanks, Kimazabi. Pass me the rope while I send shots high. Rider cut south. Away from woods. Yes, I see him. I'll intercept him. All right, give me the rope. Not here. Here we go. Steady. Big foot. Front silver. The masked man rode hard to angle in toward the approaching horseman. Rain up there. I want to talk to you. Keep away from me. Get back or I'll fire. Rain up or I'll rope you. Keep back. I say let me alone. Ignoring the horseman's warning, the Lone Ranger pushed closer, and whirled his rope around his head and let the loop fly off. Back silver. Whoa, back. Back or say it. Get back or I'll say it. All right, but you were warned. You're masked. I still want to talk to you. What is this? If this is a robbery, you won't get him. Oh, it's not. Oh, it's got a propeller. Oh, a propeller. That's an Indian. Is he your pal? Keep an eye on him, Tonto. Not me, Tonto. Oh, wait a minute. You've got no right to stop me like this. Steady big foot. All right, hit the ground. I'll look you over. But I don't... Come on. All right, all right. I'm just smart, and don't drag me off the horse. That's better. Thank you, gun fellow. Ah, me get her. All right. All right, you've got me. What are you going to do about it? We heard a couple of shots at the ranch house back there. Do you know anything about them? No. No, I don't. And why were you traveling so fast to get away from that? That's my business. Did you hear the shots? I don't know anything about them, and if I did, it's no call to tell you. Who are you anyway? Lowman, don't wear a mask. I think you'd better go back to that ranch house. We'll see if you have any connection with the gunshots that awakened us. Now look here, Mr.... Get going. Steve Delaney had returned to bed but not to sleep. After half an hour of pitful tossing, he was roused by old Tom pounding on his bedroom door. Just a minute. Just a minute. I'm lagging the lamp. What's the trouble now, Tom? See here. What's this mask, man? Mask. Bring that man in, Tom. I know you really sorry for this. I'll have the law on you. What's the idea? What do you want here? We heard two shots and saw this man riding hard. We caught him and brought him back. For what? Mr. Delaney had a nightmare. A nightmare? I fired those shots. You see, I didn't have a thing to do with it. Is there any law against riding hard through the night? Do you know this man? No, I never saw him before in my life. You heard what Mr. Delaney said. Now clear out of here. Well, I guess I made a mistake. Now what do you aim to do with me? Let him go, Tom. You've got my gun. Oh, you've got me. You've taken it. Now, all of you get out of my home. Let me get to bed. I've got work to do in the morning. Got to be up early. Sorry we disturbed you, Delaney. If I wasn't in a hurry to get where I'm going, I'd have the law on you. Oh. Right out this door. Open to the outside. Sorry we bothered you. You shook me. Adios. The next time our trails cross, Mr., I will fire. All right. Well, there's your horse. Get going. Is that a boy? Easy. Here. Let me smell gun smoke in bedroom. Yes, Tom. There were two shots fired in that room. Delaney fellers say him shoot gun. Yes. That's plenty strange. Why? Look here. Cartridges. Oh. He dumped cartridges from gun. The gun belonging to the man who just rode away? Ah. His six cartridges. Two empty. Then two shots have been fired from that gun. Ah. Although, there's something very curious about this. Delaney had a strange expression on his face. I'm sure he recognized the man we took to him. I wonder why he didn't say so. You mean not no. I recognize the man. You? Yes. I've seen his face on handbills. He didn't impress me as a crook. He didn't behave like a murderer. He might have prevented his capture by firing on me. But he didn't do it. And yet the law wants him for robbery and murder. Silly silver. What we do? We're going to follow that man, Kimusabi. I want to know more about this situation. Silly big fella. Silly fella. Silly fella. Come on, follow him. Come on. Come on. Murder rentals rode through the remaining hours of darkness to a small fight cottage at the edge of the town known as Dobieville. Oh, oh, oh, boy. He just mounted and looked through the kitchen window. The woman who lived there sat at a table eating a solitary breakfast. Merck moved to the door. Opened it. Ida. You. Now please, honey. Merck. Ida, I had to see you. Listen to me. You better. No, no, Ida, please. Get out of here. Give me a chance to speak. That's all just a chance. No. Put that down, Ida. Get out of here at once. Get out or I swear I'll hit you with this poker. It won't help you any to hit me, Ida. If you lay my head open, you'll just have me here all the longer. I've got a lot to say, and you've got to listen to me. I didn't kill Sam Bates. Lyle. I mean it, Ida. I swear I didn't kill him. You ran away. Why did you run away if you were innocent? They'd have hung me. I didn't kill him, but everyone thought I did. Can't you listen to me for a couple of minutes? That's the least you can do. I'm your husband. Husband. Killed a man and ran away before we'd been married a year. You don't know the truth, honey. I do know the truth. When you saw Gold, you lost your head. Sam was the only man with you, and you killed him to get him out of the way. That's what the law thinks. And that's what I think. Sam Bates, Steve Delaney, and I went prospecting together, Ida. We agreed that we'd split ever than three ways. I know all about that. And while Delaney was in town for supplies, you and Sam found that placid deposit. And you killed Sam. Ida, I swear I didn't. Sam was killed by Steve Delaney. The storekeeper gave Delaney an alibi. He testified that Steve was in town on the day that Sam was killed. The storekeeper made a mistake. He got mixed up in the time, that's all. That's why Delaney had an alibi. That's why I was the one that was charged with a crime. Don't you suppose if I'd been the murderer, I'd have had the Gold? Didn't you get it? No. There was at least $20,000 worth of Gold in that deposit, and Steve Delaney got every cent of it. He did? Of course he did. That's how he got the cash to clear out of the county and buy the ranch he's got near here. I didn't know that. Well, it's true. I didn't even know he was near here. He is, Ida. He's got a ranch just a few hours from town. Can you prove that Steve Delaney is the killer? No. No, that's the trouble, Ida. I can't prove a thing. That's why I came here to take the law into my own hands. I know I'm hunted. I'll always be hunted because I can't prove the truth. But when I heard that you'd moved to this part of the country, I had to see you. I had to tell you that I'm not the killer you thought I was. Murder? If I could believe that... You've got to believe that, honey. It's the truth. I've got to go away again, Ida. I've got to stay and hide, but I want you to know I'll... I'll always think of you just as I did when we were married. So Delaney had money to buy a ranch. $20,000 in gold. Doesn't that prove what I said? Perhaps it does. But it doesn't help things. Unless you can prove what you've said in a court of law, you'll be hunted until you're found and hanged. I know. Ida, you moved away from home too. Why did you come here? Couldn't you stay where you were? With everyone pointing to me as the wife of a killer? Oh, Murdoch. Yeah, I know. Murdoch, look out that window. And that masked man again. What's he want now? He's dismounting. So is the Indian. Come in here. They're coming here for me. That's what they want. Who is he? I don't know. But I told him what had happened the next time we came together. And I told him I'd kill him. Put that gun down. Turn back, Ida. No one's going to get me before I get Steve Delaney. Oh, Murdoch, please. Say more, your arm, mister. Put that gun down, Murdoch. What do you want now? I remembered your face on a hand belt. So that's it. You're after the reward. Well, I won't be taken. See, now get back or I'll put... They're coming with Toto and me. No, no. Murdoch, you're not a killer. You won't shoot. I will. I tell you, I will. Come on, step nearer. Better give me that gun. Murdoch, please. There you are. All right, you got it. I couldn't have pulled the trigger anyway. Of course not. Even if you had, look here. No cartridges. No, Toto took them out before he returned your gun. Now, come along, Mert. We want to find out why Steve denied that you'd fired those shots in his home. 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. It was shortly after sunrise when the Lone Ranger and Toto reached their camp with Mert Reynolds as a prisoner. The three sat close to a small fire. After some persuasion, Reynolds told the masked man the same story he had recently told his wife, as well as the truth about the shooting in Delaney's home. But you left unanswered one thing I want to know. And what's that? The law wants you for murder. During the night, you made an attempt on the last night of the shooting. During the night, you made an attempt on Delaney's life. Yet Delaney refused to identify you. Why? He didn't dare. No? I know too much about him. I'd only known about him before me and Sam went partners with him on to save myself all his trouble. What do you know about Delaney? He's wanted in California, just as I'm wanted in Amorinth County. He is? He was a claim jumper. Did he use the name Steve Delaney? No. He disappeared when things got too hot for him and then joined up with Sam and me in Amorinth. He took the name Steve Delaney then. I see. Sam Bates and I had a pretty good reputation. Then you found any plastic deposits? Yeah, and Delaney turned killer. He tricked things so the storekeeper got all mixed up and gave him an alibi. I was accused of the killing. Why didn't you report Delaney to the authorities? I'd have to give myself up to do that. And even if I did, I couldn't be sure they'd hang that killer. I'm going to get him myself and then I'll be sure of him. But he's the only one who can prove your innocence. He's killed. Your last chance of being cleared dies with him. I've got no chance of being cleared. Don't you try to change my plans. You promised you'd help me if I told you this story. You've got to keep your promise. I intend to, but not in the way you think. What do you mean? We're going to help you by tying you up and holding you here or you can't get into trouble for the next couple of days. What? Take him to the hospital. Let me go. Let me go and tell you. You gave me your word. You made me a promise. Let me go. Here's a rope. Believe me, Mert. This is to help you. There. That'll hold him, Tutto. Your own redouble crossing. Hold it. Dave, your opinion until you see how things work out. Can I help you, Tutto? And what do you do, Kimosabi? I saw the office of a small newspaper, the Dobbyville Herald, just beyond that white cottage. The editor is going to get to work earlier than usual this morning. Say it, air silver. You come back soon. Soon as possible, set a big flood. The Lone Ranger made a hurried call at the home of Joshua Wilkins, publisher of the Dobbyville Herald. Mesh! Leave the gun alone. Where is it? What do you want here? We have a printing job to do. There's a proof. You said it'll go right. Fine. Well, now that the type is set, how many copies do you want? None. Hey. This proof is all I'll need. Oh, God, Mr. I don't get it. Dragging me out of my home with the crack of dawn, making me sit tight. You'll understand everything when I've called on Steve Delaney. Open up! Stand aside, Tom. Where's Delaney? Now, look here, mister, after last night. There's someone wrapping on the door, Tom. Who? Good morning, Delaney. You? I came back to find out why you denied knowing the man I brought here last night. Why I denied? You knew Merck Reynolds. You knew he's wanted for shooting Sam Bates. Mr. Delaney told you he didn't know him? Ain't that enough? Delaney, why didn't you expose him last night when I had him here? Well, I... You did recognize him, didn't you? Yes, yes, I did. Well, I... Have you any idea where I'd be likely to find him? Where would he go after I let him get away? I... I don't know. Where could he be hiding? How do I know? If I thought you did know, Delaney, I'd beat the truth out of you. Why are you asking for him? I want to help him. Help him? You didn't act like it when you had him here last night. I've learned a few things since then. Adios, Delaney. Maybe we'll meet again. Doggone, boss. That critter is downright curious. Yeah. I don't serve anybody. Tom, don't ask questions. Hand me the paper that man dropped as he went through the door. Paper? Yes, right there. Oh, sure. Sure, I did notice it. I'll get it for you. He had it tucked in his belt. It brushed out as he left the room. Well, here it is. One, two, three. Seems to be some printing on that paper. Yeah. What is it, boss? Well, of all the... What's funny? So this is why that mask man was anxious to locate Mert. Saddle my horse, Tom, and hurry. Yeah. It's a good thing I know where Mrs. Reynolds is living. If anyone knows where Mert is hiding, she's the one. You're going to call on her? Yes. Now go and saddle my horse. Be quick about it. Looks like your friends come back in a hurry. That's right. One time, Totto. It's about time. Where have you been? Reynolds. There's a chance that your innocence may be proved. How's that? I've taken the first steps of a plan that may or may not work out. If it fails, there's nothing lost. If it succeeds, your name will be cleared. You mean to say you believe what I told you? Yes. Clare, you're free of ropes for now. Yeah, thanks, engine. You're the first one to believe me, aside from... Well, I guess I had a more than half to believe me. You're going back to her house. Yeah? Right away. Now listen carefully because we haven't any time to waste. Unless I'm mistaken, Steve Delaney is on his way to your wife's home right now. You've got to be there ahead of him. What? What's your plan? Listen to me. Mr. Delaney, are you telling me the truth? Well, yes, Mrs. Reynolds, I am. Why do you come to me? Why don't you go to the sheriff? Because I want to find Mert. I want him to go to the sheriff's office with me and get everything straightened up. Or where can I find him? What makes you think he'd be here? Please, Mrs. Reynolds, if he know where he is, tell me. He didn't bother. Mert! I was right in the next room. Put the gun down, Mert. There's no need for it. I'm taking no chances, Delaney. Did you mean what you said about squaring things with the law? Yes, I did. You're ready to confess to the murder of Sam Bates? Well, I wouldn't exactly call it murder. I wouldn't confess to murder. What do you mean? I'm ready to go to the sheriff and tell him that I'm the one that shot Bates. That ought to make things all right for you, aren't it, Mert? I wonder if you're up to some sort of... I'm on the level. Maybe you figure on getting me to the sheriff's office and then turning me in. Mert, how could I do that? You know what you could do to me? You could tell about... Well, I could tell about you being wanted by the law in California. Is that what you mean? Yeah. Now, if you will promise to keep still about that, I'll go to the sheriff's office right now and confess to my part in Sam Bates' death. You're on. The sheriff's office is just a few steps away. If you mean what you say, let's get going. That's the whole story, Sheriff. It's true just like Delaney told us. Just a second, both of you. Let me get this straight. Delaney, you say Mert Reynolds is wanted in Amaranth County for a shooting? That's right. He's wanted for killing Sam Bates. It's all a mistake. I'm the one who shot him. I'm ready to put that in writing. Sheriff, what more do you want? This beats me. Why are you confessing to this crime, Delaney? I'll take my chance and court a law. All right. It's up to you. I'll have to hold you until I get word to Amaranth County. I know. You too, Reynolds. You'll both have to stay here in jail until the law from Amaranth comes to get you. That suits me. You got anything more to say, Delaney? No, I've told you everything. I told you how the storekeeper got mixed up, how he gave me an alibi instead of Mert. I told you how I shot Sam Bates. I've told you everything. Well, I guess you have. Hey, Sheriff! Sheriff! Well, what's the charge you are? I've been hot-tired. You're better what? Captured, abducted from my own home, and carried to my newspaper office. I want that masked man jailed. Yes, ma'am. If you don't find him and jail him, I'll blast the living-day lights out of you when my next newspaper is published. It's your fine thing when a masked man can force a journalist to print a reward handbill, then leave me tied hand and foot. What's that? Here's to you, lady. He dragged me out of my home to set up tape at dawn this morning. He left me tied. I'd still be there if an Indian hadn't come by to release me. Now, get a party. Find that masked man. Find him, I tell you. By the one you want? There he is. Yeah, there. That's the man. Arrest him, Sheriff. Not so fast. Just keep your guns where they are, Sheriff. What reward notice is he talking about? The one you found, Delaney. The one I dropped in your home. You mean to say that wasn't on the level? It sounded convincing, didn't it? For all of all... Sheriff, Sheriff, I'd take back that confession. I didn't mean a word... Just a second, Delaney. I don't know anything about a reward notice, but you can't take back what you've just spilled. You said too much. But I thought the... I understood the... Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Delaney. Sheriff, if you will hold both Delaney and Reynolds until you've contacted the law in Amaranth County. I'm going to. Tell them about this confession. Delaney and not Merck Reynolds is guilty of the murder of Sam Bates. That's what they aim to do. I'll take your guns, Delaney. Quite fun. I won't go back to Amaranth. Take him. Look out. Hold on. Hello. He's stopping. Good work. Keep on stopping. Yeah, stopping him. Great day. That red skin sure nailed Delaney on the chin. Little water will bring him too. Hey, that Indian's a man who untied me. I sent him to untie you, Joshua. I'm sorry I had to force you to print that handbill. What handbill are you talking about? It's right here in Delaney's pocket. I'll get it and show it to you. Maybe I can clear things up for you, Sheriff. You see, I knew Delaney had killed Sam Bates, but I couldn't prove it. The masked man there believed me, so he had a handbill printed. Here, Murt. You might as well read the handbill. Yeah. Here, thanks. It tells about a $5,000 reward that'll be paid to the man who gets Amos Barton dead or alive. And then it says Amos Barton is also known by the name Sam Bates. Sam Bates? Sure. Delaney killed him and framed me for it. But when he read that notice that was dropped at his place on purpose, he stepped right into the trap. He figured he could come out with the truth, and then when he got back to Amoranth County, instead of being held for murder, he'd be paid a reward. $5,000 for the killing of Amos Barton, alias, Sam Bates. The honorary polecat, his greed was his undoing. Sure, that's where we live over there. Reynolds, I'll still do what I said. I'll hold you and Steve Delaney and send word to Amoranth County. You needn't bother, Sheriff. Out of the air heading that way. We'll tell the law. But, uh, hold on. Wait a minute. I've got to tell you how much I appreciate what you've done. After you again. There you go. Come on, do it. Come on, stop. Who is he? What is your way to mass? Why did he help you, Mert? I don't know, Sheriff. Unless it's for the same reason he helps everyone else is in trouble. But why is that? Well, it's just the way of the loan ranger. Just heard is a copyrighted feature of the loan ranger incorporated.