 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback, or in a screaming squad car. Ranger Bill, his mind alert, a ready smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission, and all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Let's hold up a minute, pal. Okay. Here you go, boy. What's the matter, you see something, Bill? Yeah, I did. You see that fire lane over there? Yeah, the one with all that shrubbery in it. Right, Henry. Now, fire that lane would be no help at all. Fire would just burn right through it. Yeah. That sure wouldn't be much help. I'll get a crew out here first thing in the morning to clean it out. Hey, Bill. Yes, Bill? Aren't we somewhere near the old railway route? What was your first clue, Henry, those tracks over there? Oh, I didn't even see them, really. I guess that answers my question, though. The old bridge is about a half mile from here. It's funny. Stuck out here in the middle of the mountains, how'd they ever build it? Well, as I understand it, Henry, they built the railroad tracks as far as they could over and through these mountains. And when they just couldn't find a way across the Shady River, they put up that bridge. I guess the materials for it were brought into this area on the tracks that had already been built. Say, and we got time to go over and see it, do you think? Oh, sure. I'm an all-real rush. Just so we're back by lunchtime. Now, have you ever had trouble getting me anywhere for lunch? Can't say as I have, Henry. Or for any meal, for that matter. Come on, let's go. All right. I'm surprised that the railroad company didn't break up that old bridge when they changed the route. Oh, no need to, pal. The bridge was still plenty strong, and no one ever uses it anyhow. I was just thinking that it might be a dangerous place to fool around on, you know, for kids. Yeah, probably true, Henry. There aren't too many children who get this far into the forest. And there aren't any who get this far without some adult accompanying them, and not even you. I never thought of that. Hey, there it is. What a sight. Those two slopes stretching up on both sides and the shady river way down below. Yeah. It's one of the seven wonders of this area, pal. Sure is. Must be a terrific view from out in the middle of it. Why don't you walk out there and see, huh? You're kidding. Must be a thousand feet straight down from there. Besides, I got that sore ankle from yesterday when I twisted it. Oh, I'm sorry to hear your ankle is still sore, Henry. But it's not quite that far. It is a long drop, though. It really does look like there'd be a view from out there. I don't know if it'd hold me, though. I had realized that you'd put on so much weight, Henry. Huh? That bridge was built for trains, pal. And even the smallest of them pretty well outweighs you. I guess I forgot. Well, it just looks so, you know... Yeah, I know. Shaky. Well, you don't have to go out there if you don't want to. That wasn't a dare or anything, you know? I'd really like to if you think it'd hold me. Okay, I'll wait here with the horses. Maybe I'll get some ideas for a few pictures to take later on. Ouch! I sure hope his ankle gets better soon. Have you sure must have been a thrill to the passengers on the old line? I'm sure it was, pal. Pile? Why? You should see this, pal. It's kind of like I was hovering in the air between these two mountains with that big shady river down below. It looks like there's a big tree that's fallen into some of the beams down there. I guess it's okay, though. The bridge isn't shaky. You'll have to bring your camera back here sometime soon, Henry. Probably aren't too many who've ever taken a scene like that one. Maybe we can... Henry! The bridge! Run! Run! What'd he say? Simple as pie. Neither we sit here until the main line is repaired or we take the old route through the mountains. The old route? I didn't know it was still there. Oh, yeah, yeah. They've been saving it for time like now. What's wrong up ahead? Landslide. These mountains are hard to predict. They think we ought to do it. Wait or take the old route. I don't know. 50 cars full of stuff that ought to get through. Sides between our sides can do a lot of tying up things. Yeah, but that old route... I mean, it's pretty messy. Wines a lot. That's why they put in the new line. But they seem to think it's in pretty good shape otherwise. How do they know? The yard man I was just talking to says they inspect it regularly to make sure it qualifies as an alternate route. Is that the line with the bridge between two mountains? Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot about that. They say that they inspect it. I guess it must be alright. That old bridge never did seem too steady. Remember how it swings as you go over it? Yeah, that's just the way it was built. Well, what do you say? Shall we take it? Yes, sir. I don't like the idea of sitting around here until who knows when. But what? Well, I just hope to have liners in as good a shape as they say it is. Especially that old bridge. Faster. And all the passengers are getting pretty upset. It's how slow it's moving. Oh, I get picture old-timer. Well, Warren says to him, can't you go any faster than this? What did he say? I understand, Joe. Well, I must say you show a great deal of self-control. Yeah, catch that, will you, Grey Wolf? I get it. Ranger Station, Grey Wolf speaking. Grey Wolf, listen fast. Yes, Bill, go ahead. I know. What we do? You and Stumpy, get out here as soon as you can with ropes and climbing equipment. And the first aid disaster kit. Any sign of Henry? No. Looked as though he fell into the shady river. Tell the thing. We hurry, Bill. Right, Bill. I just think of one good thing. What's that? A good thing track not used anymore. Finding Henry be hard enough without having to look through train wreck. Forgotten just how slow. And where they put in the new line. Skips over the top of everything. This one drops you right in the middle. Of course, you know. But whether anyone ever did it or not, I don't know. We have to go this slow. It's nice to have all these beautiful sights to look at. And we get to that old bridge. There's a sight that'll knock your eyes out. You're going across, I mean. There's just a barrel of bridge anywhere. Yeah, I know. And once you're on it, you can't see it at all. You just see the old shady river stretching out and winding away on either side. We don't know you. And the mountain is all around. Now, if it's so great, why don't we just stop on the bridge and enjoy the view for a while? Yeah, very funny. The only thing that kind of limits your appreciation of the whole scene is the way the bridge sweeps and sounds while you're on it. I know. If it weren't for that little straight stretch just ahead of it, it'd be worse. We'd have to creep over. I think that's probably why the bridge holds up. Trains used to hit it in a pretty fair clip. They were over it before it had a chance to break up. I hope that isn't true. Why is that? We won't be able to take much advantage of the straight spot. We're falling 50 cars. Most of them will still be winding when we start going straight. That's true, all right. I guess this isn't the day to play crack the whip. I'm sure it isn't. What's the matter? I was just thinking about that old bridge. It hasn't been used for a long time. It never did look as though it would hold anything. Henry said something about a tree that had fallen into some of the beams. But he didn't seem to think that it had hurt it any. You're a bad experience, Bill. You try to take it easy. Easy? I won't be easy until we find Henry. You're right. The way I figured, we can ride a good part of the way down and then we'll have to go on foot. Come on, Storm. Come on, King. Come on, girl. Henry's all right somehow. He's got good water, right? We know he'll handle himself. I couldn't see him the whole way down because I was too far back from the edge. It all happens so quickly. I ran over and looked down as fast as I could. It was just all that wreckage and no sign of Henry at all. I feel all right. We find him. But it's been so long already. A couple of hours at least. What's the condition he's in? Try to keep hold of self, Bill. Yes, honey. Ain't doing Henry any good. You are getting all upset. But God ain't dead, you know. You're right, old timer. Maybe we begin to practice what we preach about trust. You just begin to think you've learned what it means to trust God. You find out that you don't know the first thing about it. It has to be, honey. Thanks, Stumpy. Oh, by doing it, I guess. Thanks, Stumpy. Things look as black as they do now. Takes a strong Christian. Think as straight as you're doing. Hey, growth of trees and shrubs getting too thick to go much farther on horses. Yeah, so it is. Best we go from here on foot. Whoa! Can't hear a sound of water yet. Look over there. There's a piece of the bridge. Come on, let's get moving. Another sharp one, you should say. The junction about it being a good repair. Yeah, except for covering a rust over the tracks. They've held up fine. That only takes one day of no use to get that rust covered. I know. Well, we should be that old bridge in about 15 minutes, if I remember rightly. How do you know that? See that bluff over there? That one looks like a mast of a ship. Oh, yeah. I remember that that's about 15 minutes from the bridge. Some memory, huh? It hasn't been that long since we rode this line. I guess not, but it just seems long. I can't help thinking of that bridge. It's too old to hold us. Now, stop worrying, dammit. That old bridge has seen plenty of trains this size. Not for a few years, it hasn't. Probably missed it. It'll be so glad to see some action. It'll sway with happiness. I hope that's all it's wasted. This is a nice day and all that, but I'd rather do my diving off a board. Then we leave horses up there. No time to find a clearer way through this brush. I'm glad it's thinning out, though. You should be able to make better time. There's a couple more pieces of the bridge. Must be getting closer. Must have been some crash to Bond's pieces so far. Sure was. The only hope is that Henry wasn't bounced along with it. Well, we'll soon know, sonny. Look, you can make out the river through those trees. They're big pieces of great scattered all over. What's that? I think I hear a sound. It sounds like a train whistle. That's impossible, Grey Wolf. That line isn't used anymore. Hey, maybe it was Henry calling. We'll listen closely to be sure. Except water knows birds or something, and it doesn't sound like a train. What do you think, Bill? It sounded like a train whistle all right to me. It just sounded... Too far away. It sounded a remake of this far. I think there are train on tracks up there. I agree with you, Grey Wolf. If you run those tracks, that means it has to use the bridge. Stumpy, where you go? A few animals. Rivik's sign. Look at those deer running. Almost faster than a train. Hey, hey, look out. The deer's running right in front of us. Me too. Jumped out of the way just in time. Maybe we'd better slow down a little, huh? I don't know. I thought I'd make a little time here when I could, but if we run into any more tight spots like that deer, maybe we'd better just creep along. I don't see any more animals around. You can be sure I won't toot the whistle to scare them up. I hope not. If things are close to running that deer down, then hey, what's the matter? What's the matter? Look, look, coming down the track setters. Now what kind of animal is that? That's a big one all right. Hey, no. That's a horse and rider. I don't know what anybody is doing all the way out here. Well, he's coming this way just about as fast as we're going toward him. Yeah. Look, he's waving at it. Wave back. Here he comes. Maybe a prospector or something. Kind of like he was wearing a uniform. Think you wanted us for anything? I doubt it. How could he? Very few people know we're using this route. He's probably just friendly. Yeah, I guess so. Probably using the tracks as a trail rather than fighting all the underbrush. Sure was moving in a hurry, though. I think I'm going to look back and see if I can see him. No, I doubt that. The rate he was going is probably near the end of the train by now. And... Hey, bike! Bike! And what? He's turned around. He's chasing us. Well, some game. No horse can match this knee for long. No whole man can match that case for long either. You think we ought to stop? No, I don't think so. This far away from anyone or anything, you never know what somebody might try. Maybe he thinks he's Jesse James or something. Oh! Oh no! What? He started losing ground sweep. He drove over and pulled through the cars he stranded. No, he just did jump from his horse under the train. He's crazy. What's he doing now? Look like he's just holding on. Look! He's starting to climb to the top of the car. Are you sure he was such an old man? Well, he looks old. Must be in pretty good shape. Hey! He's coming his way! How far back is he? About six or seven cars. He's almost running this... There he made it. Made what? He's jumping between the cars. He's even climbing down one and up the next. Oh, he'll kill himself. Hey, what's he after anyhow? I've never seen anyone pull anything like this before in all my life. Here he comes. Stop the train! Stop the train! Stop the train! The bridge is collapsed! The bridge is collapsed! Do you hear that? Hang on. I don't know if we can, but we're going to try to stop this thing in time. The train hit brakes. I hope it can stop in time. Look. There come trains. See Spock shooting from wheels. The wheels are stopped. The train skids along as though they were still moving. I have about two more curves than it'd be on the bridge. And what used to be the bridge? Maybe those curves will help slow it down. I not see end. That's why it's so hard to stop. All that momentum. It passed first curve. It looks slower. Yeah. I think it's working. Last curve. Slowing. Just about a thousand feet between it and the edge. Drag the curves on the rest of the train, slowing it down. It's stopping. The tracks. The track is burning. They're all the way back along the train. Oh, they'll go out. Look how close that train came to the edge. They don't have five feet to spare. I'll never forget that sound as long as I live. Bill, listen. I heard it. I heard it, Gravel. Henry. Where are you, pal? It came from over this way, Gravel. Come on. Henry. Henry, where are you? There he is, Bill. The bridge is falling. You can see him. Henry. Henry. Bill, the bridge is falling. Why is everybody screaming? No bleeding. I can't tell about the inside. Let's put a stretcher together and get him to a hospital. It's comfy. We got comfy. So we're here. Now, the doctor says we mustn't stay long, but we thought we'd stop in and see how the two heroes were doing. Heroes? Here are the heroes, Stumpy. Stopping that train and all. How do you bed for you, that whole train, to be piled up at the bottom of the valley? Well, if it not for both of you, that'd be true. How do you figure that? Well, Tim and I figured it out on the way over. Now, if you hadn't gone out on that bridge and collapsed with it, none of the Rangers would have been up in that area. If you had come along, that bridge would have gone down with us on it. Huh? I never thought of that. So, you see, you're both heroes. How about that, Henry? The thing I can't figure out, though, is how you did all that, Stumpy. I never saw anyone a little on an older man do the kind of things you did, jumping from your horse to the train across those cars. Well, Sonny, I admit I was a bit winded by the whole thing, but you see, I come from good stock. And my uncle was a stagecoach driver. Is that so? That's right. He used to drive a stagecoach without any wheels. Oh, here we go again. Stagecoach without any wheels, huh? What held it up? Have it, boys and girls. Never a dull moment for any of us around here. Well, see you next week for more adventure with... Ranger Bill was produced in the radio studios of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. This has been a presentation from our Moody Broadcasting Network archives. MBN has been producing radio drama for over 60 years. To learn more about MBN, go to our website at mbn.org.