 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty high old silver, the Lone Ranger. After the days had passed when land was to be had for the asking in the western United States, promoters bought up huge tracts of worthless territory and sold them sight unseen to emigrants from the east. The transactions were always within the law and the settlers would have lost their life savings if the masked rider of the planes had not been fighting on their side. No confidence man was able to match his courage and it was he more than any other man who finally brought law and order, peace and security to the frontier. Return with us now to those thrilling days when the west was young and adventure lay at the end of every trail. The Lone Ranger rides again. Come on, sailman. We're heading for the Carlos River. Talos wailing in the trail ahead. Dan Griffin and his wife Bess. All their possessions piled in the prairie schooner which they had purchased were anxious to reach their new home. A section of land in Mason County that they had bought some weeks earlier and... Get along there! Get along! Are you almost there Dan? Just over that rise ahead of us. Mr Ludwig said that's where Mason County begins and we'd find the house just beyond the county line. But Dan... Yeah? This country, the sand and dust, fights almost like a desert. This is never due for farming. Worrying are you? It's good I let myself get fooled into buying something wasn't no good. But I thought... No honey, I didn't spend our savings without looking into things careful. I know. Mr Ludwig even showed me a book telling me all about where we were going. Honey, that book said, right in print, Mason County was one of the richest parts of the state. It certainly don't look like it. There yet? You see honey, just where do we get to the top of this hill? Mr Ludwig said we'd run into some bad stretches on the way here but not to mind him. He said when we got past his rise we'd see something that'd surprise us. I didn't mean to doubt your judgment Dan. I always have been a pretty good provider haven't I honey? No Dan, I never would have complained if you hadn't been. And I've always been a slick as an expert haven't I? Of course you have. You and me best we make a right good team. And wait we've been here a couple of years. Just wait we've harvested some of them bumper crops Mr Ludwig told about. Honey, I'll build you the finest house to live in in these parts. And you'll have two pretty dresses for everyone that any other fellow's wife will have. I declare it does me good to hear you talk Dan. I was beginning to feel some mean and low spirited driving through sand all the way. Here we are honey, almost to the top of the hill. Get up there. Now just keep your eyes open to get a good look at the richest farm and country for a hundred miles around. Oh Dan, I'm so happy. The top of the hill. Oh there, oh there. You can see for yourself it's... Our home. Sand. Sand and rocks for miles. Oh don't. Me a good provider. Me a slick as the next one. All our savings gone for land that wouldn't raise a crop of wheat. Please Dan, don't. You couldn't help it. You said you read in the book that... A farmer dependent on what a book says. You shouldn't blame yourself. Maybe, maybe we took the wrong turn in somewhere. Maybe this ain't the hill Mr Ludwig told you about. It can't be. It can't be. He said there'd be a house beyond. And there is. A tumbledown place. You can see it. Oh Dan, what'll we do? Well, there's a red skin. He can tell us whether we come the right way or not, I'll bet. Hi there. You called from the road? Come here. And what's that? That horse. A paint horse, honey. And it's a dandy. Oh Scoundrel. Oh, oh, oh. You, you need help? Look here, engine. Is this the Mason County line here? Is this the hill you come to before you get to it? Oh, this, it all right. Oh no. No, it can't be. Don't tell you truth. Blasted crook. What matter? Telling me what a fine country this is. How to pay for itself in just a couple of seasons. Taking our good cash, everything we had. Honey, I ought to be whipped for the biggest fool alive. I said you shouldn't take it so hard, Dan. Oh, I tell you I'm... Did I buy land here? Did I buy land? Engine, I bought a whole section of it. Bought it from the biggest, smoothest talking crook in Brunswick. Paul Ludwig. Me not know him. Then don't get to know him either, if you aim not to get skinned. Look at that sand of them rocks. Mine, all of it's mine. Look at that shack down there that's about to fall to pieces. That's mine too. Mine for cash. For cash we worked and saved to get together. You go west. There are plenty of good land there. West? Wow, with empty pockets? Begging our way? Red skinned, we ain't even got money enough to take us back where we come from. Oh, that heat bad. We'll make the best of it, Dan. I was a blind conceited fool. You look around. It can't be as bad as what we can see from here. I'll fix up the house, clean it up, hang curtains. We'll make a home out of it somehow, Dan. I reckon we've got no choice but to stay in due to best we can. Well, thanks, Redkin. Not all right. Get him up, Scott. He acted real nice, Dan. He wasn't like the engines I've heard about at all. Well, I've seen of this part of the country so far. It ain't the engines that scalp you. It's the crooked white folks. Get up there. Get up. But there's one satisfaction. We can't be robbed no more. There's nothing left for anybody to steal. Get along there. After his conversation with Dan Griffin, Tonto raced at the small, well-hidden camp. He shared with a lone ranger. He told his friend of the couple's misfortune. Dan and his wife, out the only people called Ludwig, is cheated, Toto. Huh? Learned that a young fellow by the name of Luke Bagley was sold old Danvers' place. Me not know that. And another couple, the Finches, were sold at abandoned farm further west. But why them by? That's easy to understand, Toto. Huh? Once all this country through here was fertile. It was watered by the Carlos River. Oh, that only creek. It's only a creek now. But until the springs had fed it dried up, it was a good-sized river. Those dry o' royals we've seen were once branches of the Carlos. They irrigated this whole section. Why spring dry up? No one knows, Kimosabe. Then he ranked, the water's gone, and all this country has become a desert again. That, he bad. The worst part of it is, when Mason County was fertile, a lot was written about it. It was even mentioned in books to prove to the people in the east that the west wasn't the arid country most of them believed. Oh. Ludwig is using those old accounts to sell this land he bought for practically nothing. He doesn't explain that conditions have changed since those accounts were written. Then he'll not count truth about land. He's clever, Toto. He doesn't make any direct claims about the land himself. He doesn't even keep the books that mention Mason County on hand. When people ask questions, he merely suggests that they look up those references for themselves if they're doubtful. Him plenty clever. Then when people complain, they've been swindled. He tells them it was their own fault. They looked up the wrong references. Then him stay inside law. He stays inside the law, Kimosabe. But I've been thinking this over. There may be something we can do. Here's over. Right now? Here's Scout. Ludwig has his office in Brunswick. That's quite a ways from here. It's four day ride. It is hip, but that's where we're going. And I'll explain my plan on the way. Come on, sir. Get him up, Scout. A week later, Luke Bagley, one of Ludwig's victims, was in the swindler's office, protesting that the land he had been sold was worthless. Ludwig himself was seated behind his desk, wearing the new smile, while two rough-looking men, known only as Joe and Curly, lounged against a wall. You cheated me, Ludwig. I tell you, you did. I cheated you, Luke. It seems to me you were so blameless to buy, there was hardly any talking to you. Because I thought that land was worth something. Did I say it was? The price you asked was the same as saying it, and you told me where I could read up on that land. Can't blame me for what you read, can you? That's what I'm doing. Now, I want a straight answer. Are you going to make up to me for what you stole or ain't you? We made a deal. The transaction's closed. Why, you are... Joe, Curly! Why don't you handle this fellow, boss? He thinks he wants to make trouble. Oh, swindler, you're lying cheat. Take an easy part. Oh, hired gunman, huh? Hired by this pole cat here to keep the fellas he stole from him getting even. Should we throw him out, boss? Go ahead. Stand back, you fool. I said stand back. Call off your gun hands, Ludwig. I've got them covered. Gun play won't get you anywhere. Put down that gun. Not till you do like I tell you. But I tell you... I paid you two thousand in cash. I've got the deed, the land right here in my pocket. You're giving me back my two thousand, and I'm returning the deed. You think I keep that much money here in my office? You can get it. I can get it. And get the law at the same time. I'll buy that now. You've put some down. What's the... They've got you covered. Thanks, Ritzkin. You showed up just at the right time, engine. And put that gun away now. You will not touch gun either. You keep back. You feller name, Luke. That's my name. And you've just now spoiled any chance I might have had to get even with this here crook. You want some land back? I was gonna make Ludwig take it back up. Hey, look here. What do you know about this deal? Me know plenty. There's no need for you to hold on to your gun, Ritzkin. Put it down. Honto, take, feller. Huh? Take who? Me take you. Me show you thing you not know. Then you not sell land. You keep land. I don't savvy what you're doing. Honto, good friend to you. Me show you how you make plenty cash. You show me how to make cash? That's right. And by keeping my land, you must be local. You come. But look here. Me, Gunt, Gun, you come. Do like the Redskins tells you, Luke, on your way. Blast you for interfering, Redskins. And Ludwig. Yeah? If this stunt the Indians pulling at something you put him up to, just remember this. I can still use a gun. And I can still find the way back here. Joe. Yeah? Can you see Luke and the Redskins through the window? I'm walking down the street. Yes? Looks like the Indians got something to say to Luke. That's real important. But he's gone away, and he appears to be talking mighty fast. Keep an eye on them. What do you have to, boss? This is paper. Redskins dropped it without noticing when he drew his gun. What's so important about it? I just wondered. Well, I'll be. What is it, boss? What's the paper say? Here, read it for yourself. The flight was torn from a newspaper. Notice anything else, Curly? No, I can't say as I do. I see what you mean, boss. And it explains what the Redskins meant when he said he'd show Luke how to make a lot of cash. It's the reason why the Redskins didn't want me to buy back Luke's land. Boss, I see it now, too. By thunder, the Redskins must have figured Luke would pay more for the information than you would. Where'd they go to? They stopped by the hitch rail, the under. We've got to get them. You mean you're going to... I mean that Redskins can't be given the chance to tell anybody else about this. Neither can Luke. What's more, that Redskins got to be made to tell us all he knows about this. And come on! We'll parryle them, tell us, boss. Be careful how you do this. We can't let the law see us use our guns. That's what we're hired for, boss. To take care of things like this. You just leave it to us. There they are. Quiet. If that's the truth, then why will we... Not weak. Howdy. You fellas spying on us? Sharks, we've got a right to walk out in the street, haven't we? You can keep right on going. Me and the Redskins have got something important to talk about. And it's private between him and me. Oh, don't be in a hurry, Luke. You come, Luke. We get horse, ride. Yeah. All right, man. Luke, that gun... I've got a gun against your side, too, engine. What you want? The boss will tell you that. What in blazes? You can't do this. It's the same as a hold-up. It's broad daylight. You're coming with us. But you can't... Or take lead. You wouldn't dare. No. There's nobody around that can see the guns you and Curly are holding on you. Everybody in town knows you came here looking for trouble. You will do as I tell you. But the boys will drill you and say they shot in self-defense. The curtain falls on the first act of our thrilling Lone Ranger drama. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now to continue our story. Paul Ludwig ordered his two men to make Tonto and Luke Bagley their prisoners. Then he forced Tonto to answer a number of questions under threat of being shot. That evening accompanied by Joe and Curly to guard the prisoners, he set out for Mason County. It was on the morning of the fifth day that they approached Carl's Creek. The once large river was now a shallow meandering stream, but along its banks were to be found the only signs of fertility in the entire district and... My heavens look. Boss, the red skin was right. It's floating on top of the creek. You can see it plain as day. Give me that cup. It's in my saddlebag. It's gonna taste it, boss. That's the only way to make sure. Golly, if it is... I'll be rich. Here you are. Yeah, thanks. Rotten taste and stuff. But it's an oil. You bet it is. Must come from one of the creek beds someplace. It's likely out of this whole county. Oil! I'll be the richest hombre in the state. And all because the engine was full enough to carry that piece of paper with him. Yeah, that's something I want to know. Just how did you figure this out? You didn't think I'd been in business all my life without learning how to put two and two together, did you? That piece of paper didn't say anything about oil being found here. It said oil had been found in Oklahoma, though. Not a long way off. That's right, Red Skin. But it showed you knew what oil was worth. Even so... Maybe you didn't notice it, Red Skin, but you smeared oil in that paper when you handled it. That showed that somewhere you'd found some oil yourself. And when you came in my office and told Luke here how you'd show him how to make a lot of cash, well, he didn't call for much guessing after that. Yeah, steady there. Where are you going, boss? They're calling the people that own this land and telling them I'm sorry about the deal they got and I'm willing to make it right. Get up there. But unknown to Ludwig, the masked man had been watching from a hidden vantage point. And as the swindler rode away from the creek, the Lone Ranger swung to the back of Silver, whispered a command and raced across the plains, circling wide to avoid discovery. Come on, old fellow. Faster, Silver. Faster! We've got to hurry. The thundering hoofs of the mighty horse headed first toward the home of Dan Griffin and his wife. Sweeping down the trails, Silver approached the weather-beaten dwelling and Ludwig had been far out distant. Whoa, Silver! Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Stay there, boy. What the? Listen to me. Masked. A crook. Dan, what is it, Dan? I'm not an outlaw, Dan. I'm here to help you. Listen and don't interrupt. I haven't a second to waste. Five minutes accomplished, the Masked Riders' purpose. Then, into the saddle again, and once wore the drumbeat of Silver's hoofs over the wasteland trail. Come on, old fellow! Faster, Silver! Hurry, old Silver! Bart's pinch-bearing offence heard the tattoo of the great white charger's Silver shot hoofs. And he looked up in amazement to see the Masked Man riding down upon him with the speed of the wind. What the blazes? Bart! Hold up! Stand back, Mr.! Pull up that hoof! Put down that gun, boy! We've got to talk! Oh, Silver! Oh, boy! From the home of Bart Finch to the cabin of Del Lacey, from Del's cabin to that of Amos Dwight, from home to home, from farm to farm, always ahead of Ludwig the Lone Ranger raced. Until at last, there was not a man among those swindled by Ludwig that the Phantom Rider the Plains had not seen. I'll seal my heart! Ludwig, surprised by the attitude of the man upon whom he called, returned briefly to Carlos Creek to give further orders to Joe and Curly, then departed. We see the gunman now, more than an hour later, seated on the bank of the creek. Tonto and Luke Bagley, tied for security, are close by. Look here, Redskin. What do you want? Are you sure you never told anybody but us about this oil you seen? You only fellas meet hell. I don't believe you. Tonto tell truth. Then why'd the boss say them fellas wouldn't sell out until they talked it over? Why'd they tell him to come back for a meeting tonight? Me not know. This sounds blame-funny to me. Every blast that one of them farmers was hauling their heads off with their cash back. Now they don't act like they care whether they sell or not. Well, I hope they do know about it. They sell the Ludwig. I hope they get every penny their land is worth. Don't you worry about the boss, Luke. He'll get his own way somehow. He's slick. What if you take my... Look at the creek. What's the matter with it? Still there, ain't it? Yeah, but the oil ain't. What's that? Look for yourself. I just noticed it. Maybe we don't see it because the sun's going down. Then taste of it. Yeah. It tastes like... Yeah, well... Blasted? It don't taste like nothing but plain water with alcohol in it. What do you make of it? Why would it taste like oil one time and just plain water the next? You figure maybe it might seep into the creek just once in a while? I don't know. And I'm going to have a look. Where? Up the creek away. The oil was floating down the creek, wasn't it? Maybe I can find some trace of it again over beyond them rocks. Go ahead. I'll stay here and watch these armories. All right. Maybe there's nothing wrong. But I aim to find out. Hey there, engine. What are you grinning about? You find out by and by. Is there something about this you haven't told us? If there is, the boss will have your hide for it. I'm told not to pray. Curly is that all you hired gun hands can do make threats. I'll do more than that if you get the shooting off your mouth. You've got to keep... Define something, Joe. I'll say it, Ed. Get mounted. Put them armories on the horses. Come on. We've got to travel. What do you mean? There ain't time to tell about it. The boss is meeting them fellas at eight o'clock at the griffin place. We can just get there in time riding like blazes. Get on your horses, you fellas. You're coming along. How do you expect us to ride tied up like this? There ain't nothing tied but your hands and they're staying that way. Here, I'll give you a lift. You healthy engine, Curly. I wish you'd tell me what you're doing while we ride. You fellas ready? Yeah. Don't ride slow or you'll wish you hadn't. Get up there. Get on there. Eight o'clock had been set as the time for the meeting between the farmers and Ludwig. One by one, they arrived at Dan Griffin's home and at the hour appointed, Ludwig seated himself at a table in the living room with the others in front of him. Gentlemen. We might as well get down to business. Get on with it, Ludwig. I'd like, first of all, to know the necessity for a meeting like this. Seems a waste of time when I was perfectly willing to deal with each one of you individually. We know you, Ludwig. You're a mighty fast talker. But you find it ain't half as easy to talk to all of us at once as it would have been getting us alone. I came here to help you out. You never helped nobody but yourself in all your life. If you've got a proposition to make, make it. If you haven't, get out. Very well. You men bought worthless land. You bet we did. Hey, well, I wasn't acquainted with this real worth at the time I sold it to you or I wouldn't have let you made such a poor investment. It to it, Blastier. What are you offering? Fifty cents an acre. Fifty cents an acre? We paid you two dollars. You don't buy my land at no such price. But, man, the land is worth nothing. Fifty cents is clear profit. How about your profit? You just the same as admitted you cheated us. Why don't you offer to give us back all of what we paid you? I'm afraid you're forgetting something. Legally, I don't have to return any part of your money. Anything I'm willing to give you is just the same as a gift. Why are you... Then that be in the case. I reckon there's no use talking any further. We ain't selling for that price and that's final. Come on, fellas, let's get home. Hey, listen, man, you got anything more to say? Be seated, please. I... Well, maybe I can do better than fifty cents. Ludwig, we won't waste your time no more. We'll aim our price and you can take it or leave it. How much do you want? Four dollars an acre. What? And not a penny less. What do you say? But that's ridiculous. It's impossible. Well, that's exactly twice what you paid me. That's what it is, all right. Just hold on a second. Well? Ludwig, you ain't pulling the wool over our eyes, any. You ain't buying back this land without a reason. You never invested a penny yet that you couldn't see your dollar profit for yourself in it somewhere. I told you... You told us a lot of things. But this is what we're telling you. Pay us four dollars an acre. Or we'll hang on until we find out why you want to buy. And then maybe you'll find yourself paying a heap more. If we're willing to sell it all. That's your only term? Them and none other. Take it away. Very well, I'll pay it. Well, that's better. But I haven't the cash with me. Your note will do it. It's binding on you and we're all here to witness it. A pen and paper. I got everything right here. The papers all draw it up and ready for you to sign. We figured you wouldn't have the money on you. There's the paper. And there's the pen and ink. Everything's in this? Yes, what each one of us has got coming. It's all itemized. You're paying us two dollars for every dollar we paid you. This seems to be correct. And sign it. Now I'll sign it, Bart. Then you can. That'll be enough to make it legal. Yeah. Now then, put your signature on that, Bart. There, that does it, I reckon. What the? A mass craft? What place is this? You've been tricked, I don't know. There ain't no oil there. It was a scheme. A scheme with a mass file. Did we sign the note? He signed, friend. And I got it right here. Look here, what is this? What does it mean? The only oil in the creek came out of a keg. No. It did. Joe found the keg beyond them rocks where the engine took us. It had holes punched in it so the oil would spill out just a little at a time. But I've been cheated. Because you cheated yourself, Ludwig. You can't tell me. No one told you there was oil in that creek. No one said this land was worth anything. That article tore from a newspaper. But when the Redskins... These men can give you the same answer you gave them when they complained about what had been written about Mason County. It isn't the same thing at all. The story in the papers had already been discovered in Oklahoma. It has been. The story told the truth. It was you who jumped to the wrong conclusion. And there ain't no law saying the mass fella couldn't empty a keg of oil in the creek. Men, the money Ludwig's agreed to pay will take you further west. You'll find good land there. All of which you can use. That's just where we're going, strange. You'll bet we are. I'm ruined. It'll take every penny I have to pay you. And good enough for you. There wasn't any way we could get the law on you, so we let you punish yourself. I'll show that mask, man. Trick me, Woody. Where'd he go? I'll show him. Oh, my head. Not this time, Ludwig. Wait, stranger, wait. I'll seal my highway. Grab Ludwig's shooting iron, fellas. That's shot. He was fired by the one fella in the whole west as smarter than any crook alive. You know who he is. I know what they call him. Ludwig, the army that gave you what you had coming is the Low Ranger. All fellow, we're heading for Fraser River. I'll seal... All you have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.