 The horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hotty-hio silver. The Lone Ranger. General Mills, makers of Cheerios, the ready-to-eat oat cereal that gives you go-power, and Wheaties, the breakfast of champions, present by special recording, The Lone Ranger. And now here's the Lone Ranger. You'll hear it said that someone was born to the saddle. That means he's a mighty good rider. But remember, like anyone else, he had to learn to ride. He probably took many spills doing it. He's good because he practiced, rode every time he had a chance. In anything, not just riding, the winners are the fellows who train. Champions are made, not born. I'll agree, Lone Ranger. But is there anything besides practice a person can do to help his training? Absolutely. Eat the right foods. I'd like to pass along something the old pioneers knew. Wheat is one of the best all-around foods you can find for staying power and energy. Today's champions agree with the pioneers about wheat, Lone Ranger. Champions choose Wheaties. There's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' flake. Champions are made, not born. Get on your way with Wheaties, breakfast of champions. With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful mask rider 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, Silly. Let's go before I am Silly. The Lone Ranger sat beside the fire in his woodland camp, cleaning his ivory-handled guns, while he waited for Tonto to return from the nearby town of Ledgeville. It was about nine o'clock in the evening when the Indian arrived. Oh, Silly, oh, Silly. Easy, Silly. Well, Tonto, did you see our friend Sheriff Logan? He must have been. Sheriff Logan, dead. Dead? I'm sorry to hear that. Did the gunman finally out-shoot him? No. Him half-fever died last week. Who took his place? A new sheriff named Len Thomas. We see him in town. Did you tell him we've trailed two outlaws as far as the old abandoned mining area? Me not known, so may not speak. He most likely wouldn't take our word that Hank Dorman and Bart Sims are outlaws. We'll continue the trail at daybreak and try to capture those crooks without the help of the law. Meanwhile, Bob Grant, owner of the Ledgeville News, sat beside his sweetheart, Mary Logan, in the house where her father, the sheriff, had died. The girl showed Bob a silver bullet, as she said. Dad treasured this very highly, Bob. It was a gift from a mysterious friend. Is that all he had in his strongbox? Yes. I hope there'd be money enough to pay his bills. Mary, everyone in town would be glad to help you. Bob, I'm not except cherry. Proud just like your father. Jim earned a big reward when he caught and killed Wolf Larson. He should have accepted it. Dad earned a lot of rewards and turned them all down. He felt that he did only the job he was paid for in capturing crooks. Honey, if you would marry me, let me take the responsibility of paying the doctor and the funeral expenses and other bills. Bob, I promise to marry him. I'll keep my word, but not now. I'll not settle you with my father's debts. You have enough trouble keeping the paper going. But, Mary, honey, don't you understand? We'll talk about a wedding date after the debts are paid. But how can you pay them without help? I'll find work of some kind. And I'll try to sell some of things in the house. Dad's six gun and rifle should bring a fair price. Uh, where's the rifle your dad took away from Wolf Larson? There in the corner. I'll get it. I know a lot of men who'd like to own that shooting iron. Here it is. So this is the Thunder Rod. Thunder Rod? That's what Wolf Larson called it. He boasted of how fast he could fire it. It certainly works smooth. It might be a good idea to auction it off. Whatever you think, Dad. No, wait, wait. A better idea. I know how the Thunder Rod can really bring in some cash. We'll hold a shooting contest. Shooting contest? Yes. We'll offer the Thunder Rod as the prize to the man getting the highest score. And we'll charge a stiff price for everyone who wants to compete. Bob, that sounds like a great idea. A lot of men would pay a good price just for the chance to fire this weapon. I'll write up the contest in my paper and I'll get out handbills. We'll have men coming from miles away to see and shoot the Thunder Rod. In the morning, the Lone Ranger and Toto follow the tracks of Hank Dorman and Bart Sins into the region of Bleak Hills and worked out mines where they lost the trail on rocky ground. When darkness closed in, they camped for the night and continued their methodical manhunt at daybreak. The outlaws, whose trail of robbery and murder had led the Lone Ranger and Toto to the Ledgeville area, rode out of the mountains to the stage route where they prepared to strike again. As they waited in a clump of willows beside the trail some miles from town, Bart Sins said, Hank is in Ledgeville where a wolf lashed and wound up his career. Yeah, Bart. Somewhere in this vicinity. He was killed in a gunfight with a lawman. Wait, Hank. I hear the stage. I'm ready. Let's go. It's a stick up. Rain in it. We'll blow you off the seat. Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! Easy there. Don't reach for a gun. Now hold your fire. I don't aim to resist. Where's your Welsh Fargo box? If I had anything worse steel, it'd be a shotgun, Garda. I'm not even armed. Of all the confounded luck. Cut the horses, please. Now listen, missus, don't need to cut the leather up. Don't tell us what to do. Is that a male sack at your feet? Not exactly. Throw it down. Yeah, all right. Here it comes. And the leather's cut. Start the horses. Now, please! The outlaws rode hard to their camp beside the siking walls of an old smelter in the abandoned mining region. Hank tossed the canvas sack to the ground and barred the rifted from end to end with a knife. Hey, this isn't mail. Newspapers. You sure there's no mail? There's nothing but the Ledgeville news. This is the poorest haul I ever made. That goes for me, too. Newspapers. Hey, Hank, here's an article on the first page. Now don't tell me about it. I never want to see a newspaper again as long as I live. But this is about Wolf Larsen's thunder ride. I don't care. I don't care. Huh? Let me see that. Right there, see? The thunder rods to be offered as the prize in a shooting contest. Bart, that rifle's worth $20,000. Ah, I need to figure. Wolf Larsen once held up a stagecoach single-handed. Stole the jewelry of a famous actress. He and I were pals. He told me he hid the jewels in a hollowed-out section in the stock of his rifle. Hank, I think we can steal that rifle. Why risk stealing it unless we have to? You went to the contest and win the rifle. You're the best shot I ever saw. That's a deal. Let's break camp right now. I'll tear out this article about the contest. We'll continue our lone ranger adventure in just a moment. Gee, man, Jimmy is eight years old. He is strong and he is bold. He can capture outlaws because he knows. He's got gold power from Cheerios. Yes. Cheerios, all right. The nourishing old cereal that's shaped like little letter O's. The ready-to-eat cereal with a wonderful toasted old flavor. What's more, every delicious spoonful of Cheerios and milk is real muscle-building food. That's right. Each spoonful contains vitamins, minerals, and proteins your body needs. And these good things in a Cheerios breakfast do good things for your body. Help you have healthy nerves, good red blood, strong bones, and muscles. Yes, Cheerios is made to give you real gold power. So try Cheerios, the famous old cereal that needs no cooking. And soon you'll hear people say... He's feeling... Now to continue. A few minutes later, the two crooks were on their way by a roundabout route to Ledgeville. Meanwhile, the lone ranger and Toto continued their search through the old mining region. They covered several miles going from one abandoned claim to another and stopping at each to explore tunnels, shafts, and tumbledown buildings. It was late afternoon when they grew rain beside the old smelter. But they found a ripped sack, a pile of newspapers, and the remains of a campfire. Oh, that's a good one. He's counting. Hank and Bark must have camped here, Toto. Here, torn sack, he must have... looked like them steel nails. Apparently, they got nothing but a shipment of newspapers. The Ledgeville news. And brown rocky here, like everywhere else. No hoof marks to tell of which way crooks go. But maybe we find other signs. Oh, look here. An article was torn from the front page of this paper. Here's the article and another copy of the paper. It's about a shooting contest. I mentioned Mary Logan. Toto. Toto, I hear horses. I mean, woods downhill. Come this way. We'll get out of sight in this old building until we see who's coming. Bring scout. Come, scout. Come, scout. Concealed with their horses inside the old smelter, below Ranger and Toto looked through wide cracks in a wall and watched three men ride out of the woods and approach the camp. Toto recognized the new sheriff. Subby. Him, Len Thomas. And William also wear badges. They must be deputies. Toto, this is a good chance to meet and talk to the new sheriff. I'm going out there. You stay here and cover me in case of trouble. Sheriff, did you stole a new paper to the canvas? Wait there. I hear someone. There he is. Man, get your hands up. Sheriff, I don't... Stop on the stage. I didn't rob the stage. Don't tell me that. We followed your tracks on the stage trail through that woods. If the ground this side of the woods were soft enough to show tracks, you'd see that I came from the opposite direction. You'd also see the tracks of the stage robbers going away from here. Your likely story. Disarm a non-masking, boys. You're not trying to work. Hey, what? My friend inside the building had you covered. I knew there were two of them. Well, if you want gunplay... No, my hand! Sheriff! You're not wounded. My friend's bullet hit your gun. Now, if you deputies want gunplay... Oh, no. Drop your guns. I dropped mine. Don't shoot. My hand dropped. Now, Sheriff, I'll tell you about the men who robbed the stage. They're outlaws and we... You're the outlaw, I won't. We could have left before you came here, but I want the state to tell you that... I'll listen to you when you're disarmed, non-masking behind bars. And there's no use talking to you now. Lay on the ground, face down, all of you. Well, I know all of you. We'll tie your hands and blindfold you so you'll not recognize my friend if you see him in town. Tuttle remained unseen, but covered the lawman. Meanwhile, the Lone Ranger tied their hands and fastened bandanas over their eyes. After leaving the lawman, the Lone Ranger and Tato rode several miles to their original camp in the woods near town. Oh, hello, hello, hello, hello. As they grew rain and besmotted, Tato said... Hey, Kimosami. Yes? What do you think, new sheriff? He may be honest, Tato, but we certainly can't count on him for help. Well, Logan would have taken our word that Barton Hanker fugitive is from justice. He'd have arrested and held him. But for Sheriff Thomas, we'll have to have proof. We've got no proof, Kimosami. Yes, I know it. I'll send a letter to the federal marshal. If he knows where to find the crooks, he'll come and get them. No, we not find them yet. I'm sure they'll be in town for the shooting contest. Bart's a crack shot. He wouldn't miss a chance to win Wolf Larson's rifle. Me look for him in town? Yes. Find Barton Hank and keep an eye on them. I'll go to town after dark. You'll hear from me. You start now? Oh, wait. Wait until I write a letter to the marshal. I want you to mail it. In town, everyone was talking about the coming contest. Tato found Barton Hank in a cafe and moved close enough to their table to hear the low-voiced conversation. Don't worry, Bart. Even if you don't win the contest, we'll get that thunder-run rifle. We'll run a risk stealing it from the winner. I don't mind the risk when there's $20,000 to be had. The outlaws left the cafe a few minutes later. Tato followed as far as the swinging doors, where he was stopped by a tall man who wore a black hat and a dark suit. Just a minute, Tato. He was savvy. We not know you. This double of beard that grew while we were hunting the outlaws helped my disguise. You make it gray. I did the same with my hair. I'll step outside. After dark, I went to the Logan house. Mary still had the silver bullet, but it was very helpful when she learned I had given it to her father. She loaned me some of her father's clothes. And where's silver? In the shed behind the Logan house. My own clothes are there, too. He must have it. Be kind, Bart. Bank. Yes, I saw you sitting near them. And we hear them talk. Then say, thunder-rod worth $20,000. $20,000? Then want it plenty bad. Then steal it if Bart not win the contest. There must be something about that rifle that's not generally known. Why, you think it worth that much? I don't know. But if those men wanted badly enough to steal it, I... I thought, uh... I've been wondering how to hold those cooks in town until the marshal arrives. The problem would be solved if they were jail for stealing the thunder-rod. Then steal it if Bart not win. To win? You'll have to beat me. I'm going to enter the contest. On the morning of the contest, the Gay Crog gathered in an open field beyond the edge of town where the rifle range had been roped off. Sheriff Thomas headed the group of prominent townsmen who wore red ribbons to mark them as the judges. Bob Grant and Mary Logan sat at a table near the firing line accepting entrance fees and handing out numbered tickets. Until the sheriff, after looking at his watch, raised his gun and fired into the air. $5,000, folks. We sold 80 tickets at $10 each. I've enough to pay all a dead dick. Oh, that's great, honey. It was mid-afternoon before each man had his turn. Then it was found that five men had perfect scores. With the target moved back, the five leaders fired a second string of bullets. This time only Bart Simms and the disguised Lone Ranger placed all of their shots inside the bullseye. Number 67 and 80 will have to fire... At an even greater distance, Bart missed the bullseye once. All five of the Lone Ranger shots were perfect. Number 80 is the winner! That stranger's the best marksman I ever saw. I didn't think there was a man alive who could beat you, Bart. Now look at him admiring that rocket. We'll get that shooting iron tonight, Bart. Let's go over there and find out whether the stranger's gonna sleep. Congratulations, mister. I never saw such marksmanship. Thank you, Sheriff. Anytime you want a job as a deputy, you just let me know. Thanks. I don't want a job. But I'd like to ask a favor. Something I can do for you? Yes, sir. I'd appreciate it if you'd take charge of this rifle until I'm ready to leave town. Well, I'm glad to. Yes, sir. I'd hate to leave it in my hotel room. It might be stolen. I'll keep it right by my side, mister. And I'll guarantee no one will steal it. Whenever you want it, just come and claim it. You know where I live. First house, next to the jail. You hear that, Bart? The sheriff's gonna have the thunder rod. We'll call on him tonight. That night, the sheriff slept with the famous rifle in his bedroom. The opening of the door awakened him. Who's in this room? Let me go! The sheriff was only half awake and no match for the two strong men. He was quickly bound and gagged. One of the intruders lighted a candle and the lawman lying helpless on the bed saw that both men wore bandanas across their faces. There's the thunder rod. You've got the screwdriver. Take off the shoulder plate. Now, but I want to know if the stuff's inside the stock. Honey, it's time to find out later. We've got to get going. Come on. They're not going anywhere. Man, shoot him! Hank and the masked men fired together. Hank's bullet hit the door frame. While the lone rangers struck the fleshy part of the outlaw's arm and get it in the same instant, Bart threw the unloaded rifle, then reached for his six gun as the masked man dodged. As the rifle hit the wall, Tonto fired from the doorway. His shot smashed Bart's gun as it cleared the holster. Good work, Tonto. We've got more gunplay. Hand over there and face the wall. Keep them covered, Tonto. I'll free the sheriff. Yes. There. That takes care of the gag. You wouldn't listen to me the last time we met, Sheriff. But you'll listen now before I free your hands and feet. Not when I were outside the house waiting for those crooks to steal the rifle. Well, then you must have known they planned to steal it. Yes. I wanted to prove to you that they were crooks. I wanted to hold them in jail until the Federal Marshal arrives. Federal Marshal? Yes, I'll tell you about him. I have a lot to tell you, Sheriff, so listen carefully. It was later the same night when the sheriff entered the office of the Ledgeville News, where Bob Grant, assisted by Mary Logan, was working on the next day's paper. The shares? Well, this is a surprise. It's about two crooks who tried to steal the thunder rod and a masked man who helped me catch him. Where are the crooks? In jail, but that's only the start of the story. There were jewels worth $20,000 hidden in the hollow stock of the rifle. Oh! Stolen jewels. I'll have the honor of returning to a famous actor. Great Scott, that is a story. What's more, those crooks are really bad. They rob the stage and they're wanted for a long list of other crimes. Sheriff, isn't that rifle in your hand, the thunder rod? Yes, Mary, I'm to give it to you to keep. Oh! As what the masked man wanted, he and the gent who won the contest are one and the same. Now, would you believe that? I'd believe it, Sheriff. I knew it all the time. You did? Yes, and I'll tell you something else about him. He's the Lone Ranger. Officer Fred Boy. Listen to the Lone Ranger brought to you by special recording Mondays through Fridays at this same...