 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill, pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. This is a lazy day in Naughty Pine. Rangers are strolling down one of the town's shady streets heading toward the town's old general store. The old store is a landmark of the days when the West was wild and woolly. And it's run by Mark Daggart. Many of the town's folk visit the store to hear the old cowhands and prospectors, desert rats as they call them, swaps yarns. Let's join Bill and the boys as they head for the store. How do they know that they're heading for one of the most grueling experiences of their lives? Listen now for the story, Burning Sand. You know, Bill, I like to visit Mark's store. It smacks of the old West. It sort of gives you a feeling that you're living back in those times again. Yes, Ralph. There's a lot of history centered in Mark's old general store. Now I get a kick out of listening to those old cowpokes and desert rats spinning their yarns, each trying to outdo the other. Yes, sir. There's a lot of competition there. You don't think that most of their stories are made up, do you, Bill? No. Essentially, there's a lot more truth in them than most people think. Of course, the old timers do add a little color to their yarns, like somebody else we know of. Now, see here, young fella. Don't look at me that way. Might have you know why I don't color up my yarns. Not even a little bit stumpy. Nope. Maybe the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Well, maybe you just put a little tint to your tails on stumpy. Well, maybe I should say I guess I do sort of tint them up once in a while, just to make them interesting. Quit picking on the old timer, fellas. You enjoy Stumpy's yarns just as much as the rest of us. It looked like big crowd in store, and the old timers there. We will see some more hair-raising tails about the old engine days. Well, whoever has the floor, it's my guess that Stumpy will go them one better. Now, wait a minute, Clint. Give them a chance, boys. That's right, Stumpy. Five of them. Yes, five? What's the matter? Were you two fellas weak that day, or just plumb lazy? Now, you see here, you old cougar. I should have taken only one of you to finish five of them off. The other could have gone about his business. Yeah, is that right? Well, I ain't seen you do any better. You ain't. Freak is me and Big Jim Hansen had Hooker pass with a gang of disperadoes. Why aren't you and I... Hey, boys. Well, look who's here. Hi, Josh. Well, you've been keeping yourself, Joshua. Ain't seen you for a month of Sundays. Oh, I've been busy, Mike. Boys, you've been looking for gold again, huh, Josh? That's right, Ben Prospecton. What'd you expect from an old desert rat like me? When are you gonna give up looking for fool's gold, Josh? I expect when they dig your grave they'll find gold, Joshua. You got gold fever that bad? Fool's gold, eh? Gold fever? Let me show you fellas something that'll make your eyes bulge. There it is, boys. You think I've been wasting my time on the desert, eh? You haven't got gold in that sack, Josh? No, you know. What did you call this? Look at that! Don't stand there with your mouth open like that. Set me up some supplies and grab. I got some more work to do. Ain't nothing to get excited about. What do you mean, Joshua? Ain't gold findings like that something to get excited about? No, it ain't. This was just a small pocket and I cleaned it out. Where'd you find the small pocket, Josh? Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it? Why don't you go out and hunt your own gold like I've been doing for 30 years? fellas, that was big thrill to see Joshua pour gold nuggets out on counter and easy to understand how men catch gold fever. That's right, Graywell. But old Joshua's been prospecting for 30 years and this is only the fourth small find he's made. Not much reward after all, is it? A lot of work for a little pay, if you ask me. Almost like work for nothing. Yep, that ain't the worst part of it, young fella. When you think of a desert rat being on the hot sand in the cold mountain, year in and year out all by himself, never gets to see people who live like a hermit. Just him and his burrow? Why, it's awful. Ah, skin get like old horse hide from sun and wind. Get frostbite in cold winter. Not much satisfaction, I think. You fellas forget that these desert rats wouldn't have it any other way. And if that's the way Joshua wants to live, that's his business. The only thing is, I think he's flirting with real danger if he keeps going out there in the desert now. What do you mean? Is it any more dangerous now than it was before, Bill? For him it is. Joshua's getting to be an old man now. The heat of the desert is hard enough for a young man to take at this time of the year. Say nothing about a man of 70. Josh, better be careful. Well, it's kind of always die with their boots on. And there's not much you can do about it. What's on the docket for tomorrow? Hard work. That's all I can tell you now. Rest well tonight. We hit the trail for three weeks in the morning. Where are we heading first, Bill? Up the Long Ridge Trail, Ralph. We got some scrub to clean out of a virgin stand of pine. Then we head for the North Forks and repair the soil conservation dams there. Somebody on the road ahead. See, it looked like old Josh wore a whip. Hey, that only looks like old Josh. It is him. He must be going back into the desert. Let's stop and talk with him for a minute. Close time. Hello, Joshua. Howdy, Bill. Howdy, fellas. Howdy, Josh. Heading out into the desert again, Josh? Yep. That's what I'm doing. Why, you're not taking it easy for a while, Joshua. No, no, I can't do that, Grey Wolf. I get the itch of a set of spell. Got to keep going. You wouldn't hurt any to set a spell, would you, Ralph? Someday you're going to overdo it. You'll set permanent, six feet under. Never you mind, Stumpy Jenkins. I am old enough to take care of myself. I'm sure you are, Josh, but Stumpy's right just the same. It's awfully hot out there in the desert. You're not a young man anymore. You could at least stay in town until the summer's over. You fellas are trying to keep me from finding gold. Why don't you mind your own business? I can take care of myself. Well, get it. And I didn't mean to offend you, Josh. I only wanted to remind you that it's dangerous. It's 120 degrees out there at this time of the year. I don't need your advice, I tell you. All right. So long, Josh. Let's go, boys. Come on, Stump. Grey Wolf, we'll have to cut down this tree. It's too far gone. The disease may spread. Ah, good. You cut the fall guide, will you? I'll cut it out on the underside and cut away the trunk. Okay, Bill. This tree not too big. Not take long. That's right, Stumpy. How don't you pull on your end? Yes, but my feet aren't dragging like yours, old timer. Not today, Stumpy. Every time some fellow bends elbow, his mouth fall open. Yeah, and the proof of it is that we're almost through our log, and they're only halfway. So, what do you say we race them, Stumpy? Let's see you get through first. Okay, sonny. That's poor little elbow grease this year, son. Our job is to trap some of these trout and put tags on them. You study their traveling habits, Bill? Right. Ralph, would you like to set out those water traps? Sure, I'll have them in there in a jiffy, Bill. And, Grey Wolf, you take motion pictures of the schools of trout swimming by. Me, too. What's that for, youngster? The idea is later we can set the projector on slow motion and count the number of trout that have passed the camera in a given length of time. That gives us the idea of how many fish in river to spawn and go back downstream. Yes. You see, we'll count that number that passed in a 15-minute period, multiplied by four to get an hourly figure, and a day, then a week, and so forth. Only approximate, of course, but the figure comes out amazingly close. Well, it sure came a long way since I first started working for Uncle Sam. The town seems kind of crowded after being on the trail three weeks, doesn't it, Bill? Sure does, Ralph. Say, I wonder if Joshua Webb came back. He'd been gone in three weeks, didn't have more than two and a half weeks' supplies with him when he left. I hope old timer will make grade. Hey, Mark's store's just down the road a piece. Let's stop by and see. No, Bill, I ain't seen Joshua, which ain't no surprise to me. That guy's got gold fever so bad he don't have sense enough to come in out of the heat. Hmm. Do you think he could stretch his supplies this long, Mark? It's three weeks now. Maybe he'd short-race himself, make the supplies last that much longer. Ah, that's all. It's possible that he could stretch his food and water a whole week longer that way. Yep. Oh, Josh could squeeze water out of a stone if he put his mind to it. All right, I'll buy that for two days, fellas. But if Joshua doesn't show up in that time, we're going out on the desert and look for him. Say, Bill, look hard for Joshua Webb, will ya? It's as much fun as I poke at him. I still like the old desert rat. And I hope you'll find him in time. Oh, storm. Easy, boy. Easy. Now, we'll find him, Mark. I hope we're not too late, though. We'll let you know as soon as we can what's happened. All right, storm boy, let's go. Come on, boy. Don't let the pack horses drag, Ralph. Keep them stepping along. Okay, Bill. I'll keep moving. Where do you figure to look first for Josh, Will? We'll follow his trail going out on the desert and watch for a back trail. Must be out on desert soon. It's plenty hot there now. Burning sand, Grey Wolf. Miles and miles of nothing else but. Plenty hard on man and animal. We better slow down once we get out of the sand. The horses couldn't take this pace and that heat. Hey, fellas, look. Over by that bunch of scrub. There's something laying on the ground. Great scot. There's a burrow standing there, too. Come on. Clags and gold, fever. Finally got the old fella. Hello, storm. Yeah, Josh all right. He's still alive. We'll try to revive him as much as we can and get him to the hospital. How's our prospecting friend coming along, Doc? If you're talking about this old desert rat, Bill, he's doing fine. A week of rest, he'll be up and around. Bundy shouldn't go back out on the desert again for a long while. Well, you talk with him a while. I've got to finish making him around. I'll see you later, fellas. So long, Doc. Imagine him telling me I can't go back out on the desert for a long time. No man is going to tell me what to do. Why, you old buzzard, it would do you good to listen to some sound advice once in your life. You're too cantankerous. Remember, Josh, you're not a spring chicken anymore. You flirt with death if you go back there now. Aren't you going to give me a piece of your mind, too, Bill? I was just getting ready to, Joshua. Well, go ahead. I agree with my rangers and the doctor. You'd be endangering your own life if you went out on the desert again. But there's more to it than that. What do you mean? I mean, you ought to start enjoying life a little. Mix in with people more. No, I like prospecting too much to be bothered with people. Go and won't buy your life back if you lost it, Joshua. I ain't afraid to die, young man. When the good lawyer's ready to call me home, I'm ready. It's good, but think of the things in life that you've missed that every human being enjoys. You've got enough money from your last strike that tides you over for the rest of your life. Ah, that's right. Well, sure, Josh, you and me could go hunting and fishing together. We could set a spell over in Mark's store and talk with the boys of an evening. Now you got me thinking that I might like staying in town. Well, why not give it a try for a while? Well, I might, but I ain't got no place to stay. Why, you old walrus, you can stay at my place just as long as you please. Ain't nothing fancy, but it's homie. Thanks, dumpy. I think we'll take you up on that and try civilized life for a while. Then you're definitely going to give up prospecting for gold in the desert, Joshua? In the desert? Yes. You know there's gold in more places than the desert. Oh, sure. Well, Josh, let's come down to this, then. Are you going to give up prospecting? Or aren't you? Yep. Yep, I am going to give it up. From now on, I'm going to enjoy life. Josh, put it there. You've made a good decision. Fellas, we'll have to get packed as fast as we can. Tom says the Scotch Pine up at the North Forks have been hit by a strange new disease. They're wasting away. That beautiful stand worth much money. That's right. We can't afford to lose either the beauty or the money. Ralph, you finish packing the burrows. I'm going back to the office and get the portable lamp. You've got to make a thorough study of this new disease. Okay, burrows will be ready by the time you get back. And Gray Wolf, give me a hand with this diamond hitch, will you? Sure thing. He's coming in a big hurry. Plenty quick. Hey, it's Stumpy. What's wrong, Stumpy? Why all the hurry? I rode over to tell you about Josh. He ain't been home for two days. Well, why didn't you tell us sooner, old-timer? I didn't think much about it, Bill. The first night, he could have stayed at Mark Dagger's house. But when it didn't come on last night, I began to get worried. Do you think he's gone back in his promise, Bill? I don't know, Ralph. Did he give you any reason to believe that you can't say he did, sonny? Nope. Marry a hint. What do we do now, Bill? Well, we're going out on the trail anyway. Let's stop at Mark's store and find out if Joshua bought supplies. If he did, the Scotch pine will have to wait until we find him. He's certainly in no condition to make a prospecting trip. I'm sorry I can't help you, Bill. Oh, and Joshua didn't buy supplies from me. Nor has he been staying here. You wouldn't be covering up for the old desert rat because he broke his promise to me, would you, Mark? Of course I wouldn't. It might cost Joshua his life if it did. I agree with you on the dock. Joshua's prospecting days are over. His heart being what it is. Maybe he got his supplies from some other store in town, Bill. Yes, Ralph. He could easily have done that. Let's spread out and ask all the stores if they've seen the old gent. Report back here in two hours. I haven't seen Joshua Web Stumpy. Sorry. Joshua didn't buy supplies from me, Bill. Joshua ain't been in my store for a coombs, age, Ralph. Ray Wolf, he hasn't been near here for six months. Yes, Joshua was here, Bill. He bought himself some grub in the burrow, also some prospecting tools. He was muttering something about it. He couldn't sit around and do nothing all the time. That's what I was afraid of. Thanks, Barry. Come on, boys. We're going after Joshua. You mean out on the desert this time here? Stumpy, you don't mean that. We're going to get Joshua before the desert gets him. I understand I'm not holding back, but with a hundred miles of hot sand out there, he's going to be mind-rugged. Friar steak in my saddle heart. This is terrible. How could Josh stand this year in and year out? I don't know, Ralph. I think you have to be made of rubber and rind. Let's rest a minute, fellas. Oh, strong boy. Thank the Lord. It's only a couple of more hours until sundown. You better wet our horses and burrow his mouths, huh? Ah, good. Let me take water bag and help Ralph. Yeah, hold this pan, will you, Ray Wolf? Don't you, fellas, take any more than that, either. It's better to drink more water at night to catch up on the dehydration that takes place during the day. How do these old desert rats stand this heat? I don't even care to keep my eyes open. It's so hot. 120 degrees. No wonder, Josh, look like prune. Okay, let's push on, fellas. A high wind could come up and wipe out Joshua's trail. Let's follow it while we can. Sand in my teeth, sand in my ears, sand in my eyes, and sand in my food and water. Why didn't Josh stay home instead of coming out here like an old fool? What's the use of complaining, Stumpy? Got a job to do. Let's do it. I'm sure glad for sundown, though. After three days in this heat, it starts to wear on you. Not only on us, Ralph, but on the animals, too. Better all get some sleep. I want to push on as soon as the moon comes up. Let's shake a leg, fellas. We want to gain time before it gets too hot. Hey, that's a rattlesnake. Watch the horses and burrows. I'll get those water bottles. Watch them. Get that snake before we lose horses. Get water bottles in. Oh, no. How many bags were damaged, Ralph? All of them. The only water we have is what's in our canteens. That's right. Uh, that's very bad. Yeah. Well, let's get the horses and burrows and be on our way. Here's to them. You guess the best thing to do is go ahead, Bill. Yes, Gray Wolf. There must be water somewhere close to Joshua's prospecting grounds. Yeah, but we don't know where that is. I'm beginning to have a notion as to the place. But we'll keep following the trail. Right now, it'd be more dangerous to go back than to go on. How far we must go to trail, Joshua. You must stop someplace and dig. Keep following the trail, Gray Wolf. We have just a little water for ourselves. Ralph, use your head. There's only a quarter of a canteen left. You must keep that for the horses. Even the burrows will have to wait. Far away gold, Bill. Maybe we follow a long trail. I don't figure Josh would have come all this way. Stumpy, let me tell you something. Remember when Josh told me all the gold wasn't in the desert? Yes. I remember. To me, that means only one place. Lonesome Mountain. There's water there. There's got to be. And what if you're wrong, Bill? It'll be my last mistake. There's the mountain up ahead for us. There's a piece of Joshua's gear for us. We're on the right track. Yes. But how much further? I can't go on. I forgot to, Ralph. One more day should do it. We'll leave the burrows here. All our gear. Travel as late as possible. Let's go while we can. I can't go. Don't talk, Bill. We go on like you say. Nobody talk. Just ride until the horses drop. And walk. And you can always die when you can't do nothing else. Stand there all day and pour this cool water over my head. And ruin your $10 church. I don't care. It's worth my life. Pellis, look over by that flat rock. There's a man's hand. Poor Josh. With water a hundred feet away, he lay down and died. Ah, here is not. Some gold nuggets. What's he say, Bill? Well, he says, Bill Jefferson, I know you were following. My heart gave out. All the gold in the world wouldn't buy me water when I needed it. Not sorry dying this way. Bury me on lonesome on lonesome. That's as far as he got. Well, he went just the way he wanted to go. Out on the desert in the mountains looking for gold. Ralph, Grey Wolf, get the burrows and the gear. When you get back, we'll have a little service for Joshua Webb. Just before we bury him. Do you think it was a gold fever made Josh break his promise? No, I don't. I've got a notion Joshua knew his time was near and all he wanted to do was go across the desert and up in the lonesome mountain to meet the Lord. Well, I guess that's the story, boys and girls. The story of Joshua Webb, Desert Rat, who just wouldn't stay where he was put. We'll see you next week for more adventure with