 A fiery horse with a speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty hyo silver! The Lone Ranger! Before this exciting adventure, a word from our sponsor. General Mills, makers of Cheerios, the Oats cereal that's ready to eat, Betty Crocker mixes, and Wheaties the Breakfast of Champions, present by special recording, The Lone Ranger! Hey youngsters, what's your favorite summer fruit? If it's peaches, blueberries, or pineapple, it would make a delicious Betty Crocker upside down cake. All you need is a package of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix. It's so easy! The finest ingredients are right in the package. Ingredients like soft-to-silk cake flour and pure vegetable shortening. You just add water and two fresh eggs, beat and bake. For the upside down part, line a square pan with a fruit and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Pour in half the batter and bake. Your mom can use the extra batter for a breakfast cake topped with brown sugar and cinnamon. And Betty Crocker yellow cake turns out perfect every time. In fact, Betty Crocker guarantees a perfect cake every time you bake. Cake after cake after cake. Perfect, or write General Mills, Minneapolis, Minnesota for your money back. Keep several packages of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix on hand, and enjoy one soon! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masquerader of the plains 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 hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The lone ranger rides again! Come on, Silver! Let's go, big fella! I'm Silver! Come on! Three men lounged on the porch at the first-call cafe just outside the limits of the Fort Wade military reservation. One was the barrel-chested proprietor, Card Wilkins, his companion's nondescript characters generally known as Spud and Rip. The cafekeeper scowled at them, as he said. Well, as his cafe isn't worth the party would take to blow it up. He used to trim the soldiers out of plenty of money on fair days. Yeah, they're getting suspicious of my poker games. A lot of them won't play here anymore. Joyce, I did slick ace Bill Evans and Hank Perish out of $100 last night. That don't happen, officer. Yeah, but even so, Card, this place makes good cover for us between stage-holders. Well, we've overplayed our hands in a hold-up game, too. Wells Fargo Company says it isn't going to ship any more gold out of Valley City by stage. And we'll try something else. When's the next payday at the Fort? Next Friday. A dispatch writer stopped here yesterday, told me that Major Hayes the paymaster for this military district is at Fort Hobart now. He's due here late Thursday. Who left the pay wagon? Take more than the three of us to pull that kind of a job. There's always a cavalry escort with a wagon. But I think, yeah, I'm sure that we could get to the money after it reaches the Fort. Now there's a thousand men there. That's why the paymaster figures the money is perfectly safe. I've heard the soldiers say they stay overnight in a quartermaster's office, keeping a cash with them and checking the payroll. He only has one guard, a sentry who stands point duty outside the office. What about the other sentries? They walk posts outside the Fort. Up until 10 o'clock at night, they don't haul any soldiers because all the fellows at the Fort are off duty until taps. And we could slip in and out between dark and taps if we had soldier uniforms on. Right. And I've got some uniforms stored away. I bought them from discharged soldiers. It took them in on debts. Then we're all sad. Not so loud. Here comes Sergeant Art Carey. Looks like he's got his day into it. Howdy, Sergeant. I'm not a Sergeant any longer. I was discharged today. What do you aim to do now? Something I couldn't do before without blackening my army record. What do you mean? Cards, you cheated two of my soldier friends out every cent they had last night. You can't prove I cheated them. I know your tricks. I've seen you deal carts in the bottom of the deck. So what? So I'm here to get their money back for them and knock your ears down. Now, shell out a square off. Look here, fellow, you can't... Refugee and Spud stay out of this. I want the front of lamp basting a smart aleck alone. What's this? As he spoke, Card Wilkins swung a wild ride at Art Carey's head. The ex-Argent ducked and the cafekeeper's fist slid over his shoulder. Then they grappled. I'll tear you apart. Wait, will you piss your cows? The two men swayed back and forth across the porch with the cafekeeper clawing, gouging and kicking. Breaking away from the cafekeeper, Carey drove a hard upper cut to his jaw. Wilkins measured his length of the porch floor. The ex-Argent stepped back, giving him a chance to get to his feet and renew the battle. But the crook only lifted himself on one hand. With the other, he jerked a six-gun from inside his shirt. Drop that gun. Close it, please. Don't shoot Card to get us covered. Drop that gun, I said. There it goes. This is a whole... It isn't. My mask doesn't make me an outlaw. I simply wanted the Sergeant to get fair play. Thanks, mister. You and the red skin got here just in the nick of time. If you're too bystanders, keep your hands frozen. Sergeant, you'd better take all of their guns and give them to me. Right. I'll leave them a hundred yards down the trail. I'll get them. What caused the trouble here? Art Carey tried to rob me. I only tried to recover some money to my friends lost to him in a crooked card game. Now that I have their guns, I'll take it. Hold on, Sergeant. Whether that fellow is a crook or not, you'll be arrested for robbery if you take any money from him. I reckon you're right, mister. Anyhow, I had the satisfaction of licking him. Yeah, and you'll pay for it, Johnny. Keep still or I'll punch you again. Here, mister, take the guns. Right. I have them. Where are you going to the fort? No, I'm out of the Army. I was headed for Valley City when I stopped here. I intended outfit and town and prospect on Caravan Creek. Easy, isn't it big fellow? Easy, Scott. Easy, fellow. If you want to ride double with me, I'll take you most of the way to Valley City. Oh, thanks, mister. Being an old caberman, I'd rather ride any fashion than walk. All right, up you go. I'm ready. Come on. As the long ranger dropped the guns on the trail and passed from sight with the ex-Sergeant and Toto, Card Wilkins got to his feet. Rubbing his jaw, he rassed. Why didn't you fellas help me? You told us to stay out of it. Hey, what's this thing I just picked up from the floor? You're that? It's one of those ribbon soldiers wearing their blouses. Let me have it. There you are. I must have pulled it from Kerry's coat. What does it stand for? Hmm. This is the ribbon for a medal granted to Kerry by a special act of Congress. They say that no enlisted man except Kerry ever won that medal. Had he won it? I don't know, but I've thought of a way to make this ribbon hang, Art Kerry. Maybe the Masked Man and Engine, too. And you're thinking too fast for me? First off, we'll report to the Provo Marshal at the fort that Kerry and the other two armbrace tried to rob us. Then when we go after the Army payroll, this is what we'll do. That night, Card Wilkins and his fellow crooks slipped through the guard lines at Fort Wade, clad in cavalry uniforms. They cat-footed to the corner of the Quartermaster's building, pulling yellow-neckerchiefs over their faces. Then Card, who was in the lead and carried an iron stake used to picket horses, halted them. Hey, there's the sentry. Well, I knock them out. I want to make sure the season hears us. I know what to say. Right, then come on. The sentries turned his head. Who goes there to carry? Oh! Yeah, it takes care of him. My due fellow stayed back while I pulled down my neckerchief and called a paymaster at the door. Right. Who's there? The sergeant of the guard. I have a message for you from Colonel Esterly. Oh, let me have it. Colonel's compliments. There you are. Oh! Yeah, they fixed him. All right, come on inside. Hey, is he... Sure, he's dead. Grab those sacks of money from the table. Yeah. Now I'll upset some of the furniture. Put our Kerry's honor ribbon in the paymaster's hand. I said I'd fix him. Oh! An hour later, Captain Hoyt, the Provo Marshal, reported the murder of the paymaster and theft of the payroll to Colonel Esterly at post-headquarters. He was saying... After the sentry came to, he said that he'd been attacked by three men who wore masks and uniforms. He claimed that one of the killers called another one Kerry. Kerry? Yes, sir. I then investigated the quartermaster's office. It was in a state of disorder, indicating that Major Hayes put up a hard fight for his life. In his right hand, he clutched the ribbon of the special service medal. No one holds that honor in this part of the West except Art Kerry. What's Kerry been doing since he was discharged? Card Wilkins told me today that Kerry and two other outlaws tried to hold up the first call café on Tuesday. He described one of the others as wearing a mask. The third bandit was an Indian, he said. Probably the same outlaws were with him tonight. I have no doubt of it. Issue rations for a week. Divide the regiment into 50 patrols. Scour this district from end to end. But bring in Kerry, the mask man, and the Indian. It was early the next morning when the Lone Ranger, Tottle and Art Kerry broke camp. The ex-Sergeant left for Lonely Caravan Creek with his packed mules, while Tottle rode off to Valley City to buy supplies. Soon the Indian galloped back with news of the Army payroll murder which he had heard in town. Without dismounting, he gave the Lone Ranger the details, including the fact that a masked man and Indian were wanted as accomplices of Kerry. That mean us, Kimusami. Me here at Tullard's at Café say, Kerry and us tried to rob place. Tottle, he was with us last night, so we know that he's as innocent as we are. His honor ribbon was planted in the murdered man's hand for all the victims of a frame-up. Hard Wilkins has a grudge against Kerry and us. Luckily that he tore off Kerry's honor ribbon during the fight and built the frame-up around it. The desperate situation. The oldest course is often the best. We'll put our case before the commanding officer if we can find him. We'll continue our Lone Ranger adventure in just a moment. Sheriff Sam is a boy of ten. He busts right in the robbers den and gets his man because he knows. He's got go-power from Cheerios. Yes, he's got go-power. There he goes. He's feeling his Cheerios. Cheerios. Cheerios. That's Cheerios. The cereal shaped like little letter O's. And those O's stand for oats. The good grain Cheerios is made from. Every delicious spoon full of Cheerios and milk is real muscle-building food. Each spoonful contains vitamins, minerals and proteins your body needs. Yes, those good things in a Cheerios breakfast do good things for your body. Help you have healthy nerves, good red blood, strong bones and muscles. You can see that Cheerios is made to give you real go-power. So make sure you have a Cheerios breakfast every day. Then you'll hear people say... He's feeling his Cheerios. Now to continue, Colonel Esterly paced the floor of his office. Alone at headquarters in an almost deserted fort, he had been directing the widespread search for the suspected killers through dispatch riders. As his restless movements took him toward the orderly room, the connecting door opened. The colonel stopped and stiffened. The mask man and Indian. We don't intend to harm you. If you killers think you can hold me as hostage. We're not killers. You and Kerry. Art Kerry spent the night of the payroll murder with us at a calf near Valley City. Such an alibi is worthless coming from you. As long as we are suspects, we've been framed. Probably by Card Wilkins and his men, Rip and Spud. Before you waste any more words, you'd better identify yourself. Here you are, sir. This cartridge may identify me. It's loaded with a silver bullet. You're the lone ranger. I accept your word that you and your friends are innocent. But private individuals were to offer a substantial reward. Would you have the notices printed and posted? Yes, certainly. But why should such notices be necessary? Colonel, I have a plan. Most men become murderers because they want money or revenge. Card Wilkins is both money-hungry and revengeful. Those qualities in his character can be used to establish his guilt. If, as I believe, he and his men committed the crime. This is what I expect to do. After listening to the lone ranger's plan, Colonel Esterly directed him to an abandoned powder magazine at the edge of the military reservation. There he and Topper remains for the rest of the day. That night they set out for Caravan Creek Dawn for art carry. It was several days later when the crook known as Rip hurried into the first hall cafe. Tellers, look at this. What is it? It's a reward notice some soldier just gave me. The citizen who doesn't want his name used his offer on the heap of money for carry, the mass man in the interim. Let me see. There's that one at Dead or Alive. Boys, this is our chance to square accounts with carry and get paid for doing it. Pax and Grover settle up. Caravan Creek, we'll fix that has been sergeant. Collect Dunny's car keys. Meanwhile, the lone ranger and Totto had found the former non-commissioned officer at work on a worthless placer. They explained what had happened and advised him what to do in event the cafe gang appeared. The ever-adventurous carry readily fell in with a plan. After several uneventful days, the masked man and Indian who had concealed themselves on a boulder-covered creek bank while carry pan-graveled below them sighted three riders a short distance downstream. They loosened their guns. Those men are civilians. Ah, and me think them fellas we want. They've stopped and dismounted. Now they're coming on Indian fashion. Art, be ready. This may be it. Aye. A few minutes later, the crawling men were close enough for the lone ranger and Totto to identify them as Card Wilkins, Rip and Spud. Suddenly, the crooks rose as one man, their guns drawn. Wilkins! I got his gun. I'm gonna bust his job before I plug him. In their efforts to hold on to the ex-argent, Rip and Spud had holstered their revolvers. As Card lowered his six-shooter and prepared to slug the prisoner, the lone ranger and Totto leap from their hiding place. Wilkins, drop that gun. Drop your gun or a fire. Your hands are up, don't shoot. Now pick up Wilkins' gun and disarm the others, Mr. Keepin' Covered. All right. That takes care of him. You can't get away with this. That's why we tricked you into hunting me on this crick. Tricked us. That's what I said. The mass man had that reward notice, printed just as a come-on. And so... Right. What are you gonna do with us? You've tried twice to kill me. You frame me so I'm level to hang. What did you do in my boots? He's fixing to shoot us. Shootin' is too good for farmers like you. I have another idea. It's somethin' that'll make you fellas confess him on top of bank. Him run for horse. Now he's out of sight among the rocks. You'll let him get away on purpose. You shot way over his head. Yes, you're right. I allowed him to escape. Just as soon as I saw that he was afraid you two men would confess. I know cooks. Wilkins will head straight for the place where you hid the payroll money. He probably hoped to get across a Mexican border with it. You've got big stock now. Yes, it should be big enough to make him think he's safe. I'll follow his trail while you and I take the prisoners to the fort. The day drew to a close, the lone ranger and Colonel Esterly crouched in the chaparral which grew along one side of the first call cafe. The masked man was saying I saw Wilkins dig something out of the hill over there. Then he took his saddlebags and went into the cafe. That was just before I reported to you at the fort. He must still be inside. His horse is a big track. Colonel, I only need you as a witness. I suggest that you stay here when he comes out. There he is. Stooping under the weight of two bulging saddlebags which hung over his right shoulder, Card Wilkins crossed the cafe porch to his horse. As he turned his back into cold of the bags with both hands, the lone ranger nudged the Colonel as the lone ranger and army officer broke from cover Card Wilkins' world. At the same moment, he dropped his heavy saddlebags and dove behind a nearby rock. The masked man was shouting, Give up, Wilkins! You can't get away! The outlaw's response was a wild shock. The bullet missed the lone ranger who had reached the horse's head but creased the animal's neck. Squealing with pain and rage, the big stallion reared, with his front hooves, the lone ranger dodged but one thrashing hoof found his head and hit his shoulder. Although the blow was glancing, it stretched the masked man on the ground, half stunned. Colonel Esterly ran to his aid. Teaching the stallion's bridle, the Colonel attempted to quiet him before his deadly hooves again reached the lone ranger's body. In his struggle with the horse, the Colonel dropped his revolver. Then Wilkins rose from behind the rock. As Colonel Esterly groped on the ground for his fallen gun, the outlaw kicked it out of his reach. The spinning gun came to rest beside the lone ranger who in the meantime had shaken off the effects of the blow he had received from the stallion's hoof. Clasping the weapon, he struggled to one knee as Wilkins held. This way you'll get it, Colonel. Drop that gun, Wilkins! You sure took care of that crook, mister? Another second he diverted me. Are you badly hurt? No, Colonel. Neither is Wilkins. I'll take his gun while you examine those saddlebags. I'll look inside of them at once, sir. There, I'll have one of the flaps open. Is it the army payroll? Yes, it is beyond the dogs. Do something for me. My arm's broken. I'll give it to the post-hospital shortly. Meanwhile, you'd better make a clean breast of your part in the payroll robbery and the murder of Major Hayes. I haven't anything to say. I think your Confederates may be persuaded to talk. So you figure out making a deal with Spud and Rip. Few outlaws refuse to talk when it's a matter of saving their own necks. The first who tells the truth and agrees to testify for the government stands a little chance of getting off with his life. If you'll promise... I don't make promises to a crook. The decision is up to you. We put Kerry's honor ribbon with Haymaster's hand and lied about the mask man and engine. Spud and Rip are the kind of fellas who'd blab if I didn't. They were in with me on some stage hold-ups. That's all I want to know. Get me to a hospital, my arm. Colonel, here comes one of your patrols. That's the Provo Marshall's detachment, Captain Hoyt commanding. Detachment! We heard firing, sir. You've caught the mask man. Did he shoot Cardwell? I'll ask the questions. We just captured them. They had two civilian hostages that I'm holding as witnesses. Oh, those civilians are Rip and Spud. Arrest them, Captain Hoyt. Release the other two men. The mask men and I have recovered the payroll money and obtained a confession from Cardwell. He and his henchmen, Rip and Spud, committed the crimes at the fort. Kerry! Front and center. Let me pin the ribbon of your special medal on your tunic again. I'm sorry that this proud emblem caused me to doubt your honor. And I'm sorry that I ever quit the army. I'd like to re-enlist, sir. Consider it done, Sergeant Kerry, dismissed. Usually. Are you leaving, sir? Yes, Colonel. Adios, sir. Adios, Sergeant. Adios, mister. You did a lot for me. You should be wearing this ribbon. No, there's only one place for it. That's a soldier's tunic. Are you ready, tonneau? You said to be slumped, me ready. Man, give our friends a cheer. Captain, have the bugle sound recall. I don't want any more mistakes made about the Lone Ranger. A cure of the Lone Ranger Incorporated is produced by Kendall Campbell Muir Incorporated. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer, your announcer, Fred Foy. Listen to the Lone Ranger brought to you by Special Recording Mondays through Fridays at this same time.