 A fiery horse with a speed of light, the 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 hoofbeats of the Great Horse Silver, the lone ranger rides again. Come on, sit there. Let's go, big fellow. Come on, sit there. Every 4th of July, ranchers for miles around gathered at the V3 spread in Harper's Valley. The whole day was spent celebrating in the boisterous carefree manner of the west, with a plentiful supply of food and drink provided by Silas Harper, owner of the V3. Silas, gruff, hearty and smiling, stood watching the merriment surrounded by a group of friends. Well Silas, sure been a big day. Most everybody in town's out here having a time along with the ranchers. That's what I'd like to see when I have my 4th of July party. What's that sharp-eyed lizard doing out here at the V3? Well, I don't like that piece any more than you do, Jim. Even lizard is working to the V3 on the 4th of July. Yes, sir. Yes, old Silas. Say, how are you doing with your prior stock of horses? Fine, fine. I'm a business agent for the army. I've been going through this territory in about 3 weeks. My horses are going to bring a good price. Sure know how to raise them? Yep. Do a better job raising more horses than I do my boy Tom. Where's that kid of yours today? I haven't laid eyes on him. Seems to me, for a boy 18 years old, he ought to be out here yowling with the rest of them. Yes, that's right. Hey, Jim, where is Tom? Have you seen him around? Well, I did see Tom this morning, Mr. Harper. Over at the corral. Now, listen here, Jim. As foreman of this spread, I don't expect you to be a nursemaid of which, am I? If you let him ride off again, will that dad wear that peat and stuff? Tom ain't a kid anymore, Mr. Harper. Doesn't pay any mind to what I say. Then he did go right north, isn't he? Yep. I guess he did. He'd all let that peat and stuff? Tom calls himself an artist. He says they all use that sort of stuff. Yeah, it ain't anything to what I'll call him in a lay eyes on him. Well, I guess your Tom is just a bit different from the rest of his Silas. But maybe you'll get over it. No, maybe about it. You'll get over it fast when I meet up with him. Excuse me, Sheriff. I'm going to speak to the missus about Tom right now. He's on the porch with Sally Harris, Mr. Harper. Yeah, Jack. Really? That no-good son of yours is going traipsing off to do some more of that crazy peat in the his. And on a day like this... No, sir. Don't remember we got... Calm down, you say. With an income poop of his son doing that sort of stuff? Silas, you haven't even spoken to Sally yet. Good afternoon, Mr. Harper. Howdy, Sally. How like I was saying, Mary. I wouldn't worry about Tommy, Mr. Harper. Someday he'll be a great artist. He does wonderfully life like painting. I won't have any son of mine being an artist. He's making me the laughing stock of the whole caretower. Calm says this morning that he'd like to climb up to Craig Rocking so as to get a good view of Stony Mountain. Being such a nice day and all. Crone up to Craig Rocking. Well, I'm riding up here right now. When I get there, I'll bust all that stuff he carries around once and for all. Silas, there's no duty. I'll teach that weakness a few days. Poor Tom. He was only a bit more like the other ranch's son. Tommy's all right, Mrs. Harper. He's fine. Well, he's the sensitive type. He's a born painter. I know, but Silas would never understand. You like my boy, don't you, Sally? Yes, I do. And I think it's a shame his father won't give him a chance. I'm going to ride up to Craig Rock ahead of Mr. Harper and warn Tommy right now. Some distance from the B3 ranch house, Stony Mountain formed a cliff-like wall on the west side of Harper Valley. The only entrances to which were fairly narrow passes at either end, were the rolling hills from the east curved to meet the rigid Stony Mountain Range. All the trails from the B3 spread led to the main trail along the bottom of the valley, along which the lone ranger and his Indian companion, Tonto, were riding. A friend, Silas Harper, has about the choice of spotting this territory, Tonto. Ah, him have whole valley to self. That's right. The guards at each pass he could practically close himself in. What's that to the east? Over there. Oh, that's Craig Rock, give him a study. Yes. I know that. It looks to me as though something's moving on top of it. Craig Rock, plenty high. Point it. No one ever go up there. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Look again. Ah, you're right. You see man up on Craig Rock. He's starting to leave and go down. Ah. It's dangerous. He might slip and fall. We're right over the base of Craig Rock and meet him. Horns, Silas. Get him up the scouts. He didn't leave horse over there, Kimusubbi. Yes. Look, hello. It's coming down. Looks like Tom Harper, son of our friend Salis and Mary Harper. You met Tom last time we stopped by the V3 Ranch. Oh. Him boy, you'll paint pictures. Yes. He sees us now. It is Tom Harper. Hi. Glad to see you. Hi, Tom. Oh, it's as hard to come down from as it is to climb. Oh, why you go up there, Tom? Well, I wanted to paint a picture of the center part of Stony Mountain. Up there is the only place where a person can see the base of the cliff. Mind if I look at the painting, Tom? No, sir. Here it is under my arm. Thanks. Here, let me help you set these and other canvases down for a moment. All right, thanks. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. Well, what do you think of it? Well, Tom, in my opinion, you're a real artist. Look here, Tom. Oh. That looked like real Stony Mountain. That's good, Tom. You must have been here all day, Tom. You cut the bright sunlight on the face of the cliff. I have been, sir. And Dad won't like it if he finds out that I sneaked away from the Fourth of July celebration. And me, here, you are. You're welcome. You're welcome. And Dad won't like it if he finds out that I sneaked away from the Fourth of July celebration. And me, here, your father, say, him not like it when you paint. Now, no. When I went away to school, I took a part. I said I had a natural talent. You have, Tom. Yeah, but Dad wants a son who can shoot and rope and all that. I guess I'm a big disappointment to him, but I... I came a subbie. Someone come right fast. Coming from the direction of the ranch house. Well, look, it's Sally. Sally Harris. Oh, I feel leaves. No, no. Please, wait. Oh, boy. Oh, Tom, I... I'm an asked man. It's all right, Sally. These are friends of mine. Mom and Dad know him, too. Oh, I'm glad to meet you both. I'm Sally Harris, steady boy. I'm glad to meet you, Sally. How? Tom, I came to tell you your father's coming. He's going to destroy your easel in pictures. Oh, Silas Harper wouldn't do that. Oh, yes, he would. You don't know Dad when he's riled up, especially about my painting. Him coming now, maybe. Oh, Tom, what do you do? Maybe I can persuade him not to be too hard. Pull that hook! Pull that hook! Hi, Dad. Hello, Silas. Well, I didn't expect to find you and Tom to here. Good evening. How? Sally, what are you doing here? I left you back in the porch. I came here to tell Tom what you said you were going to do, Mr. Harper. Good. And he already knows. You young whelp. What do you mean sneaking off to the devil with them messy paints? And the other young fellows are celebrating like real men. But Dad... Don't put Dad me. Well, bust all that stuff to smithereens right now. If I ever catch you fooling with painting again, I'll turn you out once and for all. Oh, wait a minute, Silas. Well... Calm down a little. Don't do anything you'll be sorry for. Let Tom keep his things. Maybe someday you'll change your mind. But for now, I'm sure Tom will promise not to use them again. Yeah, well... Well, you heard what the mayor's man said. Well, all right. I promise, Dad. At least, uh, no, you don't lie to me. So you can keep it. But keep it out of shade. And don't ever use it again. I'll give her up that joke and let's get back to the ranch. The following day, the man known as Jed Pierce sat at a corner table in a cafe of the nearby town. He was in low and earnest conversation with a dark, complexed man whom he addressed as Don. Glad you got here, Don. I got your message and Patton came right over here. What's the big deal? Knowing you used to be a play actor, I decided to let you in on something that'll be worthwhile. Remember the hombre that hung around bent in the wild? One with his spectacles. Oh, you mean the geologist from St. Louis? Yeah, that's a one. Could you make out like you were a geologist? Fix yourself up to look the park? Hmm, sure could. It was worth my while. You always make out pretty good when we pull deals together, don't you? I guess I'd do with that. Well, then take my word for it. What we have to do first is this. We're gonna build a cabin as quick as we can and move you into it fixed up like a geologist. Just play the part when anybody comes snooping. Look, when I was in St. Louis, I never went in on a deal unless I knew all of the details. I'll tell you all about it later, not here. I get to the hotel and fix yourself up like I said. So after noon, I'll take you out and show you where we'll put up the cabin. We'll bring the stuff in from Benton. Within a month, you'll both have plenty of gold sold away. How about it, eh? All right. We'll drink on it. It's a deal. Two weeks later, the Lone Ranger and Tonto reigned up before the V3 ranch house. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Silas Harper and his wife, Mary, were on the porch enjoying the sunset. Hey, hey, come up and sit away. Hi. You can stay only a few minutes, Silas. Ah, it'll soon be dark. Oh, honey, Claire, you always give me a start when you ride out. It's nice to see you again, both of you. Thank you, Mrs. Harper. We expect to be leaving this territory before long, so we took this opportunity to stop in and say goodbye. Well, she'll be there when she's there. Thanks. You never stay put in one place very long, do you? Not too long, Silas. Oh, uh, how's Tom getting on? Oh, Tom, he just don't know what to do with himself, so he does try hard to help out on the ranch. Well, he's much help as a fish out of water. Can't see why I couldn't have a boy who'd amount to something. I'm sure you'll be proud of Tom someday, Silas. Hope I live to see the day. Silas, you mustn't talk like that about our boy. If you try to see things his way, unless he... Well, here comes Jim. They said we're wrong. Oh, hold on. Well, what's wrong, Jim? Mr. Hopper, I just thought I'd... Oh, you've seen these two here before, so don't get excited. Tell me what's happening. It must be me, Jim. You're all out of breath. Here's some. Mr. Hopper, we've just been checking up, and I come with bad news for you. What's the bad news? Speak up, man. I hate to tell you, but 20 of the finest horses out of the prize heard have been stolen. The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger story. Before the next exciting scene, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Now, to continue our story, when Jim, the foreman of the V3 ranch, brought the news that 20 of Silas Hopper's finest prize horses have been stolen, Silas sprang to his feet in a rage. You're playing funny with me. It's a truth, Mr. Hopper. Night before last, one of the boys riding the North Range told me it looked like to him a few was missing. And this morning, he came in and said he was sure more was gone. So I got the boys together and found out 20 was gone. That's quite a loss, Silas. That's plenty of horse to lose. What do you need to do, Mr. Hopper? Change somebody to a dirty sheriff. He came to some of the boys out near the north of South Passage. The rest of their heads can go with the sheriff to see if he can trail with even coyotes. Right. But as for trailing them, we tried to pick up their trail, but I guess by running a few off at a time like they did, there ain't much of a trail to follow. Fact is, we couldn't cut any sign on them at all. Get the sheriff anyway. Get the hands camped out like a shed. We'll make sure if them wrestlers are still in the valley, can't keep people from using the main trail. But if you make certain none of them drive my horses out with him, get going at him! Yes, sir. It's awful, Silas. Some of your best prize horses. Are all the horses branded, Silas? Yep. Every one of them is carrying the V3 brand. Maybe some of them will show up somewhere. There's no help now. I sure wish you and Tonya was leaving. We're not. You see you're not? That's right. We're staying on until those wrestlers are caught. Oh, I'm so glad. That's mighty fine of you, my friend. Well, we'll leave now. It's getting too dark to try to cut sign. We'll be back at daybreak. Come on, Tonto. Right there at the clock. Adios. Good day to you. See you in the morning. Once again. Let's count. Early the following morning, the lone ranger and Tonto returned to Harper Valley. When they were only a short distance inside the valley beyond the south pass, they saw a horseman racing toward them. There comes Jim, Silas Harper's foreman. Ah, him and heep big hurry. Oh, there was a horse. Good morning, Jim. Good morning, stranger. Things are sure popping, Mr. Harper's mad on a wet hand. What's happened now? Five more prize horses missing. I'm going to get the sheriff again. I don't understand. How could wrestlers get them out? Are the ranch hands guarding both passes? That's right. They are. Nobody went out of the valley with them horses through either pass. Then they must still be in the valley. Or there's another way out. There ain't any other way out, stranger. The horses scowled in the valley with some of the men right now. I better be going to get the sheriff. Come on, boy. Get up. Oh, plenty of strange, more horse-gun keema sabi. Yes, it is, Toto. We're right along the base of the cliffs from here to the other end. Come, Silver, come on, boy. Get him up, Scout. You think maybe we find something? I don't know, Toto. The base of the cliffs is not visible from the trail. In fact, that ridge of shale and scrub pine prevent it from being seen from any part of the valley. Easy, Silver. Go for it, boy. Shale's not good to ride over. Probably hard rock at the base of the cliffs. It won't be so bad. If there's any cleft or cave along there, we'll find it before we're through. After riding over the small ridge of shale and scrub pine, the Lone Ranger and Tonto reached a hard rock surface which extended along the sheer walls of Rocky Mountain. Riding slowly, they rode toward the north end, keeping close watch for any opening that might be concealed by scrub pines or bushes. Go ahead, there, Toto. A cabin. Ah. Then, built close against the wall of the cliff, almost opposite Craig Rock. Need not know cabin mayor Kimosabi. Neither did I. Can't be seen from the trail below. I'll stop and investigate, most of them. Most of them, Toto. Right there, Toto. Come on, Toto. Ah. Ah. Looked like someone lived here. Yeah, it's the strip between the cliff and the trail is an unclean landlash. Yes, what can I do? Why, you're wearing a mask. Ah, don't worry. This is a friendly visit. Oh, would you mind answering a few questions? No. Of course not. Come in. Thanks. A comfortable place you have here, Mr. Professor Robbins. I'm a geologist from Boston. Oh, I see. The Indian rugs you have on the floor and walls are very effective, Professor. Thank you. Thank you. The floor of this cabin is the natural rock, so it needed a covering. I see. Have you been here long, Professor? About a month or six weeks, I should say. Uh-huh. I came here to study the rock formations and had this cabin put up here because it's not visible from the trail and I have complete privacy. Of course. I didn't notice a crow or a horse, Professor. How do you leave the valley to get supplies? I made arrangements to have supplies brought to me frequently. And when I'm ready to move on, I'll have a vehicle brought here to take me out. I see. Well, uh, sorry to have bothered you. We'll be going along. You see, the V-3 ranch has lost some horses and we're aiding in the search. Come along, Tutto. Hold on, hold on, hold on. There he comes now with some of the ranch things. Thanks, I see. And Mrs. Harper said he'd be full up. Is Tom here? Yes. I've got more now to worry about those horses. Well, hi there. Morning, Silas. Call me, Mom. Yes, Tom. I want to see you, Tom. Now, you still have the pinning you made on Crag Rock the 4th of July? Yeah. Good to hear you heard your share of it, Pete. I'll wait, Silas. Wait a minute. This is important. How about it, Tom? Yes, I can. I'll get it for you. Yeah, you can't for the life of me. Figure why you want it. You soon know any sound of the rust, right, Silas? Not a bit. It's a little muddy, funny about the whole thing. They couldn't just fly them horses away from the valley. I know. Did you see that cabin built at the base of Stoney Morrow? Yeah, the first time I knew it was there. In there sometime, I reckon. That strip is unclaimed land. So it's all right for it to be there. Here's the pinning. Well, thanks, Tom. Look here, Silas. I don't want to look at any of Tom's fully stabbing. Look at it, Silas. Well, all right. Good to have you. OK. That's the clear flight opposite Craig Rock. Looks just like it do. Yes. Tom's tail work is perfect. This was painted a little over two weeks ago. But there's something missing in it. Oh, no. That's just as I saw it. But the cabin is not there. Hey, Jupiter, that's right. The cabin we saw this morning is right about there. Where Tom has them scrub pines painted in. Nothing could grow where the cabin now stands. It's all a rock there. Oh, those pines I painted in weren't close to the base of the cliff. They were slightly in the foreground. You see, there's light shining through from behind them. Yes. On either side, you also have scrub pines painted in. But they're much darker. Yet they're situated about the same as those in the center, Tom. Why is that? I don't know. But I do know I painted the scene as I saw it. Now, the sun was reflected more behind the center, Tom, I guess. Look, we're wasting time. Silas, I think Tom's painting gave me the answer to the puzzle. Come on, we'll meet the sheriff and go after those rocks. But hey, we have no time to lose. After meeting the sheriff on the main trail, the lone rain-grain tunnel followed by Silas' ranch hands led the way to the cabin near the base of the cliff. Soon they rained up in front of the cabin. Oh, so good. Oh, no. They'll be right there, big fella. Bring your man, Sheriff. Well, well, still hunting for the rushless gentleman? The hunt is about ended, Professor. Come on, Sheriff. Wait. You can't force your way into my cabin like this. On the side. No, wait. What do we do now? I may be wrong, but I think I'll find the proof of my theory behind those Indian rugs on the back wall. Stay away from those wall coverings. A good pull should bring them down. Look, a big door. Now I'll show you no mass down we can do this. Oh, my hand. Shall he stand with his head? May I not like it to see that bro? I know this professor lost his boss Tony on accent. I should prove something. That's right. I bet he ain't a professional at all. Open that door, man. As your rustlers, is he changing the brands on your horse's silo? She lets you go from riding to a beach in the other side of Rocky Mountains. The rustlers haven't noticed this yet. Have your guns ready. Come on. Rustle, man. Rustle, man. Come on. Within a short time, Pierce and his small band of rustlers were overpowered and taken away by the sheriff in his posse. A young ranger and a toddler returned to the V3 ranch house with a silo. Oh, sir. Come on, sir. Right there. He came by and told me about the rust. We should, didn't we? All right, Dad. I guess you think I should have gone to help. Well, I... I guess I'll never be very good with a gun. You did your part in the capture town? Yeah. You said that on the way here. Just what did that peat and tell you that made you so sure where the rustlers went? The town was detailed work and the penny was almost perfect, Silas. The professor, or that is the fake professor, said he was there six weeks. Ah, him say that. Tom painted his picture about two weeks ago on the 4th of July. According to the painting, the cabin was not there then. Yeah, that's right. The beams of light Tom had shining behind that one clump of scrub pines indicated that there might be an opening in the cliff just behind the clump. From that, I got the idea the cabin hid that opening. Well, I do declare. Then those seagulls moved the rugs from the stone floor, led the horses through the cabin and through the opening of the back, then put the rugs back in place on the floor in the wall. That's right. The rustlers were changing your brand. To a W-8 brand by adding another V and inverting the three. You see, they figured to sell them to the Army, Mary. I sure was in to lose a lot of money. We can thank Tom that you didn't. It was his fine painting that helped us find the rustlers. Yeah, that's all it was. Yeah, Tom-chan. Yes, every man has different likings. After all, some likes to ride and shoot, but you, well, you... you compete all your pleas now. Oh, gee, thanks, Dad. We'll be going now. Thanks a lot. Are you tallo? Uh-huh. Are you ready? Adios. Come on, silver. Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! I declare, Silas, he's your good friend to have. But all this time we've known him, I still don't know who he is. Really? Yes, I forgot to tell you, Mary. He's the Lone Ranger. You have just heard is a copyrighted feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated.