 A cloud of dust and a hearty, high-o silver! The Lone Ranger! Companion Totto, the daring and resourceful mask 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. Now to those thrilling days... ...the southwestern town of Chanceville. He dressed in ill-fitting eastern clothes and rode an aged horse hired from the local livery stable across his back in an oversized open cloth sack where squares of framed canvas, brushes and oil paints. On his way out of town on his morning excursion into the rugged hills, he stopped in front of the sheriff's office and greeted Sheriff Tom Harris. Morning Sheriff! You're up early this morning. Are you expecting outlaws? No, Mr. Curley. Outlaws don't bother much with this town. They've been playing hob in other towns in the territory, but so far they've left us alone. I hope they stay away. Sheriff, I... I'd hide if I knew there were bad men within ten miles of here. I bet you weren't that. You don't like it too much out here, do you? I like the people, and I like the scenery. But the east is my home, and I'll return there soon. Sheriff, I'd better get up into the hills and take advantage of the morning sun. I'll see you later. Get up. Get up. A few hours later in a cave high in the tree-bear hills to the east of town, a band of four outlaws sat listening as their leader related a story to them. He was the notorious Frank Grimes from Kansas Territory, a man who in the town of Chanceville was known as the artist Ellis Carter. Ha ha ha ha! Sure! And then I said to him, I said, Sheriff, I'd hide if I knew there were bad men within ten miles of here. Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! Frank, you're a cry. He should have been an actor, shouldn't he? He should have been. What do you think he's been doing in Chanceville these past three months? That's right, and the acting has been difficult. But let's get serious about this job tomorrow. The leader outlined the plans for the next day's contemplated robbery in Overland Junction, eight miles to the east of Chanceville. When he'd completed the details, Grimes, Alias Carter, prepared to leave. I'll be here at Sunup. Have my horse and ranch clothes ready so I can make a quick change. You'll be ready, Frank. Frank, you're not going to leave your paintings here, are you? Oh, no, no. Give me that shaggy. You know, nobody's ever seen anything I've painted. Well, maybe that's because you never painted anything. Ha ha ha! That's the answer. I've been carrying the same pictures back and forth each day ever since I arrived in Chanceville. So long, boys. Till tomorrow. Goodbye, Carter. The Lone Ranger and Topple were riding in the hills to the east of Chanceville. They were on their way to the Lone Ranger's secret silver mine to the west of the town to obtain precious ore for a minister in Overland Junction, Reverend Winthrop, whose need for money was great. Who's who's who? They stopped their horses for a moment and used their field glasses to study the hills that surrounded them. The masked man's eyes came to rest on a spot less than a mile away. Carter, that's peculiar. There's a man riding down from that knob in the hills. No one ever rides up there. Ah, me see him. Him not dressed to ride in a country like this. It would be interesting to know what he's doing here. I don't know if he's heading down to the main trail. We ride down to and meet him before he gets to the Chanceville Road. Come on, Silver! Come on, Silver! The falsely named Ellis Carter stiffened in his saddle as nearing the cross trail to Chanceville, he saw the two riders approaching from the hills above. They were a masked man and Indian, but their manner and greeting were friendly and he stopped prepared to meet them. Whoa! Whoa! Oh, Silver, whoa! We've got hope, man! You've no cause to be alarmed, sir. You're... you're wearing a mask. That's true. I assure you, my friend and I are not outlaws. We saw you and thought, perhaps, you were a geologist working in these hills. Your guess is wrong. I'm visiting the west to do scenes of this beautiful country. You see, I'm a painter. The pseudo artist introduced himself as Ellis Carter and told of the pictures he'd painted since his arrival from the east. He ended by touching the canvas and the pouch that hung from his shoulder. This is one I had just completed. It's a study of that peak up there. Oh, steady, you crazy coyote! Keep it up, you snake! Got the critter? I'm shooting, Carter. Oh, steady there, easy. Let me hear a rattle, but not see snake right away. I heard and saw him. I hate those sidewinders. Mr. Carter, the canvas is falling from your pouch here. No, no, keep away, I'll fix it. There, thank you just the same. If you won't pardon me, I'll ride on to town. Goodbye. Adios. Get up, get up there. Well, Toto, what do you think? Hmm, him strange man. Very strange. He comes from the east, yet he handled that horse like a cowpoke. He drew a gun and fired as quickly as any man I've ever seen. Ah, name hits snake every shop. Yes. What's more, his manner changed during those few minutes. His vocabulary, too. Let me hear that. Call horse coyote. Tenderfoot not do that. He also called that snake a sidewinder. Only real westerners know that the horn-rattle snake is called a sidewinder. Ah, that's strange. Not as strange as his painting. When his canvas almost fell from the pouch, I saw the scene on it. And me see it. Got picture of trees. There's not a tree within miles of here. And he's already told us he's been painting that knob of the hill. Peaky called it. Ah. Himasabi, maybe it good we learn more about him. You stop at Chanceville to see him again? Well, Tom Harris is sure of there. We helped him in the past, Hunter. I'd like to speak to him and learn more about that man, Ellis Carter. Come on, Silver. Get him up, Scott. The man called Ellis Carter left Chanceville before dawn the next morning and rode to the cave where his outlaw band waited. At 10 minutes past 10, the five men, their faces masked, held up the express company office in Overland Junction. They shot down three company employees, killing two. Come on, I've got the cash. Alone deputy sheriff, Glenn Lassen, on foot near the hold-up scene, fired after the fleeing robbers. I got one of them. Hit him again, shot him twice. And he was their leader. Hold up, sheriff. Laws escaped and rode back to their cave in the hills near Chanceville. But the leader, Frank Grimes, alias Ellis Carter, had been shot twice in the shoulder and side. The outlaw's doxy and red laid him gently on the ground, stripped off his shirt, and using strips of the garment, bandaged his wounds. You're bleeding pretty bad, Frank. It's not too dangerous in the looks of it, but it sure is bleeding. It hurts a lot. I'm sorry, Frank. We're doing all we can to bleed and stop and something. Yeah, but look what you're using to stop on that filthy shirt. You'll poison me. I'll get blood poisoning and die. Ah, you won't. You'll be all right, Frank. Don't tell me that. I know. I need a doctor. I'm going to a doctor. Well, only doctors in Chanceville. And you can't go back there like this. They'd ask questions. These clues off me. Don't stand there. Pull them off me. All right. Oh, doxy. I have this whole thing figured out. Oh. I have a story to explain how I got shot. I'll tell it to the doctor. I'm a sheriff. What is the story, Frank? I'll tell you while you remove these clothes and get me back into that artist's outfit. Mary, will you? My side's hurting. Gressed once more in his eastern clothes, the outlaw chief prepared to ride from the cave to Chanceville. Stay here, boys. All right. Put the money behind the rocks with what's left of the other loot. All right. Those lawmen from Overland Junction will never find you here. Don't worry about them. What about this sheriff hairs in Chanceville? What'll he do after you tell your story? He'll go out looking for some outlaws. But I'll have him looking for them in another direction from here. You'll see. Keep cool, boys. I'll be back. Sheriff Tom Harris saw Ellis Carter slumped over the neck of his horse as the spab and animal came to a stop before the lawman's office. His eyes caught the sight of bloodstains on the artist's coat, and he ran to help the man. Mr. Carter, you've been hurt. Here, let me help you down from the horse. Easy now. What happened? You've been shot. Get me a doctor. Sure, sure. Tex and I'll carry you over to Doc Tuttle's office. Oh, Tex, come on here. They rode north from the main trail. The ones who shot you? Yes. There were five of them. They came from the east. I saw they were masked, and I tried to get away. Why did they shoot you? Call me, Tom. What's wrong? Tex, Mr. Carter's been shot. Help me get him over to Doc Tuttle's. Sure. Grab him on one side. Yeah, I'll get the other. That's it. Carter had actually become weakened when Dr. Tuttle probed his wounds. He lapsed into unconsciousness without telling Sheriff Harris more. Harris and his deputy, Tex White, walked from the doctor's office and arrived at their own. At the moment, a horseman galloped to a stop there. Tex is Glenn Lassen, deputy sheriff over in Oberlin Junction. Glenn, what are you doing here? Sheriff, there's been a hold up in Oberlin Junction. Crooks robbed the express company. He got away with $11,000. They hid in this direction. Are there five of them? Mask? Yeah, that's right. You mean you've seen them? No, but they shot a man from this town heading north of the main trail. They did. My posse kept heading west, looking for him. I was sent to ask if you'd help us search for the Crooks, Sheriff. The hold up wasn't in your county, but they shot a citizen to Chanceville. That brings this county into it. I'll round up a posse in a few minutes, Glenn. We'll ride with you and go north after those coyotes. A long ranger and Tuttle riding back from the mine along a back trail stopped on the outskirts of Chanceville's main street. Tuttle, I'll remain here while you ride to see if Sheriff Harris is in his office. Ah. May not be long, Kimusubby. Get him up the top. Oh, Tuttle, you're back in a hurry. Sheriff Harris in his office? No, Kimusubby. Nobody in town. We look every place. See nobody. If that's the case, something's wrong. I wonder if... Oh, wait. There's a man on the main street now. I'll ride to him and ask if he knows where we may locate the sheriff. Come on, Tuttle. Must count. The curtain falls on the first act of our lone ranger adventure. Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments. Pulled into Chanceville and hailed Dr. Tuttle, the elderly man was apprehensive, but the masked man assured him he knew Sheriff Harris. And soon the doctor told of Carter's shooting and the reason for the posse's leaving. He ended... I had gone with him, but I thought I'd better stay with Carter. Badly wounded? Well, he was hitting the shoulder and the side, but there's complications set in. I'd say he's in no danger of dying. No danger at all. Dr. Wee Meadow was Carter yesterday. He's the reason we're in town today. May we speak with him? Well, if he's awake, I don't see why you can't. Come inside with me. When they entered the bedroom of the doctor's house, Carter was deep in the sleep of exhaustion. While Dr. Tuttle and the lone ranger looked at the wounded man, Tuttle, standing behind them, idly studied the clothes that hung across a chair. Suddenly his eyes gleamed and he handled the garments. Then he summoned the lone ranger to one side. He must have been... Look at clothes on chair. Tuttle whispered to the masked man, then both examined the bloodstained clothes once more. Then the lone ranger turned to Dr. Tuttle. Doctor, do you mind coming into the other room? Not at all. Come on. Something's wrong. What is it? We saw Ellis Carter wearing those clothes yesterday. Did he wear them when he was shot? The bloodstains should have told you that. But they don't. Unless you tell me how it's possible for a man to be shot in the side and shoulder without the bullets penetrating his clothes. What's that? You mean to say that? I mean to say there's no sign of bullet marks in Carter's coat, vest, or shirt. Well, darn nation. I was so busy treating him so taken up by the excitement of their getting a posse together, I didn't bother to look at his clothes. But evidently, the sheriff didn't either. Say, what do you make of a thing like that? For the moment, nothing. There was suspicion of Carter that brought us to Chanceville. Despite his wounds, our suspicion of him is still great. Bullet business is peculiar to say the least. Doctor, Tuttle and I have a quantity of silver ingots in our saddlebags. May we leave the bags here in your office for a while? Sure. Bring the bags in here. I'll lock them in the closet. What do you plan to do? Tuttle and I have time before it's necessary to continue our journey. The afternoon's still young, so we're riding north to look for Sheriff Harris. The silver ingots were left in the doctor's office. Then the lone ranger and Tuttle sped out of Chanceville, crossed the main trail, and continued northward. Sheriff Harris and his posse had found no trail of the five horsemen Carter said had shot him. He turned the posse around and started back to the main trail, riding beside Glenn Lassen and Tex White. Harris said, Carter must have made a mistake about the direction those hombres took. We go back to the main trail, see if we can't pick up their hoof prints. We should have done that right off. We thought they'd come this way, and then it... Hey, Sheriff, look. Riding this way. Yeah, two horsemen. Galloping like old Nick was chasing them. Who, who, there, who? All right, boys, hold up. Jesus. Hey, one of them's an engine. One on the white horse's mask. Sheriff, this could be a couple of the coyotes we're after. No, no, wait, wait, man. Don't start reaching for your guns yet. We got them outnumbered plenty. But, Sheriff... Tex, to me, a masked man on a white horse and an engine riding together could mean that... Oh, gone, that's who they are. I see him playing now. Move aside, let me through there. Come on. Man, these are friends, not crooks. Ranger and tunnel greeted Sheriff Harris and told him what they knew about Ellis Carter. Harris was stunned. You mean he's a real dead shot? He told me he never handled a gun in his life. It's possible he never handled an artist's brush, either. Sheriff, do you have any explanation why there were no bullet holes in his clothes? No. See, here, do you think he had anything to do with a robbery and overland junction? I know none of the details. If you'll give them to me, I'll tell you what I think. Glenn Larson here saw the holdup, even plugged leader of the gang. Shot him twice. Sheriff, I hit him twice. You say this caught around the bush. Yes, Glenn, he was shot twice also. I see what you mean. Danes continue to add up, Sheriff. They sure do. Imagine that pole cat making me believe he was at tender foot Namby Pamby. He was using me, that's what he was. Well, I'm going back to Chance Wheeler. I thought I saw where Carter rode from yesterday. Those rocky hills, especially up near the Knob, would be an ideal spot for a gang to hide out. A perfect place to hide stolen money. You've got something there. How far was the place in the Chanceville crossroad? Not more than two miles. Carter wounded like he is can keep. We'll look into those hills when we go back to town while there's still some daylight. Take it, sir, will you please? I'll be glad to. Come on, sir, then. Tuttle led the posse into the rock-strewn hills where they had seen Carter the previous day. It was there that Tuttle caught the first sign of life above them. He must have been up near peak. Yes, I see, Tuttle. Sheriff, there's smoke rising from a spot behind that high rock up there. Yeah, it's just a whistle. But there's smoke, nevertheless. Someone's up there. And it's not hard to guess who they are. Well, let's go up and take them. Wait, hold them, Sheriff. The way these hills are laid out, the chances are whoever's up there hasn't seen us approaching yet. Well, that's good. Only as long as they don't see you. But that'll be bad. There are no trails up near the Knob, and the hill narrows up where the smoke is. If we try to ride their head on, they'll moist down. That's my thought. Sheriff, let Tuttle and me go on alone. Just the two of you? Those are the crooks. There's at least four of them up there. That's the chance we'll take. Listen, here's what I have in mind. We'll go ahead and... The Lone Ranger outlined a plan by which he and Tuttle would ride to where the smoke was rising. Sheriff Harris agreed. In line with the plan, the posse would follow on foot. A few minutes later, the Lone Ranger and Tuttle started their ride upward. It was the crook named Doxy who, standing at the entrance of the cave, saw the masked man and Indian approaching. Red, Casey, Slim, get your guns quick. There's two hombres coming here. Keep them covered. The four outlaws with guns level stood in the entrance to the cave. The Lone Ranger and Tuttle showed no alarm as they rode up and dismounted. Doxy spoke as the strangers walked forward. Then right where you are. Come another step and we fire. That would be foolish. You're making enough mistakes as it is. What? What's he mean by that? I mean you're foolish to have a fire inside that cave. Smoke's coming out to the top. So wonder the posse hasn't seen it by now. Casey, stop on that fire. All right, Doxy. Stranger, who are you? Why'd you tell us about the smoke? And what's his stuff about our posse? The posse for mobile and junction after you. You should know that. Don't stand out here where you might be seen. Let's go inside. Don't move. I ask who you are. I'm your friend. Let's call him Carter. I told you he's the reason I'm here. What would you say? Carter. He sent you here? Hey, Doxy, this hombre knows something. Slim, keep your gun up. All right, you two. Come on inside. Now stand right there, both of you. Casey, you put the fire out, huh? Yeah, I bring that lantern over here. Yeah, you are. Leave it on the rock there. Now, mask man, what's this about Carter? I saw him in Chanceville a few hours ago in the doctor's office. He wasn't dead when I left him. But I'll tell you this much, he hasn't a chance. They're wise to him. They are. You mean they know he's Frank Grimes? They'll know it in a short time. I came up here to find you. Is the money safe? Yeah, it's still in there. Hold it, Red. Why are you asking about the money? Why does anyone ask about money? I asked about it because I... Did you hear that? Hmm? Hear what? Outside. I heard someone outside. Hey, what is this? Red, go out there. Red hurried outside the cave and returned about a minute later. I'll see. There are men coming out of here. I can see them among the rocks about 50 feet downhill. They're coming up slow. Don't let them get your guns out. Let's not be trapped in this cave. Now look, I'm in charge here. Don't try to take over. You men want to get trapped in here? That's your business. I say it's better outside. He's right about that, boys. If it's a posse coming, we'll have to fight him outside. We can hold them off out there. Let's get out there then. I'll leave the way. Out of the way, ancient. Stay here. We'll take care of this. Red, you get behind the big rock to the left. Right. You, Casey, sprawl out behind that ledge over there. Right. Slim, you stay with Casey. You mind? I'll stay with you. Get down, you crazy fool. They'll see you. Now sprawl out everybody and don't shoot till you have a target. All right, stranger. You come over behind this rock with me. We can see them at any angle there. I'm with you. Is this the spot? Yeah, this is perfect. Now kneel down in here. And I'll take your gun. The Lone Ranger's gun descended on Doxy's head as the man sprawled unconscious. The Lone Ranger grabbed his gun and, crouching low, ran to where Red had taken his position behind another rock. Red. What's the matter? What are you... I had to do it that way. He took Red's gun. He turned and saw Toto step from within the cave where the Indian had been left ignored. The masked man signaled to the Indian and together they moved quietly to the boulder where Casey and Slim were crouching. Their guns pointed downward between clefts and the rocks. The Lone Ranger spoke. I'll take those guns. We'll take them. Casey, shoot! You're too slow, Casey. I'll kill you both. My wrist. It's bleeding. You shouldn't have tried to shoot. If you hadn't, you'd have enjoyed a short sleep like your partners are taking. Toto, call down the posse. Tell Sheriff Harris we have some presence for him. Surprised posse, in response to Toto's summons, scrambled to the spot where three unconscious and one wounded men were spread out There they are, Sheriff. From what one of them said, you'll find the express company loot in the cave. These are the crooks, eh? Carter's men? They're the ones who are after. But they're Frank Grimes' men. You've heard of Frank Grimes? A bad man from Kansas territory? Why, sure. Well, your friend Carter is really Frank Grimes. Well, there's a big reward offered for him. And he'll go to you. You and nobody else. Well, if you think I'm entitled to the reward, I'll accept it. I'll go to the Reverend Winthrop in Overland Junction. He's building a church there, and he needs financial help. If you say so, that's what we'll do. He and all the people in the territory will be grateful. Now, Sheriff, you have your crooks and the leaders in Chanceville. While you're marching these men down to where your horses are, I'll take Toto back to town. We'll see that Carter, Grimes, I mean, makes no attempt to escape, and that's perfect. Will you stay overnight? I know, Sheriff. We have an appointment with Reverend Winthrop in the morning. We'll see you. Come, Dullo. Tug gone, Sheriff. There goes a man. After all, he didn't a couple of hours. I'd say he was an army of men all rolled into one. And when you say that, there's still much more to say about him. You see, he's the Lone Ranger. The feature of the Lone Ranger Incorporated, created by George W. Trendle, produced by Trendle Campbell Muir Incorporated, directed by Charles D. Livingston, and edited by Fran Stryker. The part of the Lone Ranger is played by Brace Beamer.